Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings

“They were

breathing the enchanted air of Trinidad de Cuba, my mother’s

hometown. My American father was a visiting artist who had

traveled to Trinidad after seeing National Geographic magazine

photographs of the colonial plaza, where horsemen still galloped

along cobblestone streets, beath soaring church bell towers,

against a backdrop of wild green mountains.”

This passage uses symbolic language to build atmosphere and establish motifs and themes that express the narrator’s fascination with Cuban culture and nature, while telling the story of how her parents meet. The air is enchanted or magical, establishing the Pastoral Imagery and Magical Nature theme, and the church bells soar, an allusion to flight that develops the Wings and Flight motif within the theme. At the same time, the galloping horsemen on cobblestone streets create a sense of timelessness that highlights the pastoral elements of the culture on the island like a fairytale. The poetic symbolism builds the atmosphere in a style typical of free verse poetry.

“I hear caged songbirds

and wild parrots.

Somehow, the feathery voices

help me make my decision to sing

instead of speak, and even though

I sing in a voice more froglike

than winged,

I do dare to sing.”

The narrator uses a metaphor to compare herself to a caged songbird to demonstrate the inspirational effect of the Cuban environment upon her art. The comparison between her froglike voice and the feathery voices of the Cuban birds establishes the metaphor, comparing the early stages of her poetic voice to the croaking of a frog and the latter stages to the wings of a bird when it finally becomes winged.