El almendrón brings together poetry and photography around memory, distance, and the persistence of origin. The work moves between the Caribbean, migration, family, and the instability of belonging, using the almond tree and the Cuban almendrón as recurring images of endurance, protection, and return.
Photographs · with poems · 2006
Out of Print · A new bilingual edition is in preparation
I was a child again, and
I woke to the sound
of the almond fruits
falling in the brisk breath of the wind
of the almond fruits
falling in the brisk breath of the wind
upon that polished cement floor
washed by the Caribbean salts
washed by the Caribbean salts
there was my grandmother
swaying her snow-white hair
as I ran to catch up with her
kicking aside the scattered fruit
swaying her snow-white hair
as I ran to catch up with her
kicking aside the scattered fruit
and clinging to her sun-dappled skirts
