Between the Straits in '68

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My Africa still exists in my mind
Small Spanish enclaves in the north
Ceuta and Melilla

My birth city launched Columbus’ wooden fleet
Father’s job in the US Navy
A trip aboard a cruise ship—my life at sea

I was less than three
The performers danced the decks
Flamenco celebrated on drinking glasses

This ship was steel
My parents, our maid, my stuffed toy and I
on a jaunt to Spanish and African territories

Ifni was too far for us
I, an anchor and a hinderance
Nearby Ceuta called across the straits, “Venga aqui, nino!“

Photos—me in sailor kit
My black stuffed Gibraltar toy monkey
“Mi ‘Mono’ y yo” in my infantile Spanish—inseparable 

My Spanish-born foot on African soil
Sunglasses shade from an African sun
A mere flash of a memory, a page flipped past.

*Venga aqui, nino!: Spanish for “Come here, child!” 

*Mi ‘Mono’ y yo: Spanish for “My ‘Mono’ and I”. Mono was the name of Paul’s toy monkey.