Sin Vergüenza / Without Shame

fought my mother
with my foul mouth

talked myself- out of tradition
talked myself- into a new culture

talked on the telephone, at all hours
talked on the streets, at anyone
talked about myself, at length

heard no one.

Felicia Gonzalez. Since coming to the United States from Cuba in 1971, I've been exploring the impact growing up on an island and then being transplanted to a seemingly endless continent has on one's cognitive make up, and its effect on the rhythm that is the source of poetic instinct. Currently I am working on a series of poems which explore the notions of travel and traveler, whether the contemporary commuter train or the delirium of the ancient cartographers.