{"id":3840,"date":"2019-07-15T21:01:49","date_gmt":"2019-07-15T21:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridareview.cah.ucf.edu\/?post_type=article&p=3840"},"modified":"2019-07-15T21:01:49","modified_gmt":"2019-07-15T21:01:49","slug":"father-tongue","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/","title":{"rendered":"Father Tongue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our embargo lifted its hands<\/p>\n

off my eyes\u00a0<\/span>yanked my chin towards
\nthe colorful architecture of your face<\/p>\n

and left me alone with you, strange courier<\/p>\n

of my DNA\u00a0<\/span>you, an almost-familiar place.
\nHello, Cuba, hello father, may I call you that?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If a homeland offers no house or apartment,<\/p>\n

if there is no familiar front door acting as a veil
\nbetween day in and day out,<\/p>\n

if there is not enough monotony
\nfrom kissing the same faces goodbye,<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>if every family has its scent
\nand I can smell ours<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

then I am still an outsider\u00a0<\/span>your hija Americana<\/em><\/p>\n

sitting finally at your table<\/p>\n

cradling a cup of coffee like an egg in my palm.
\nDo not speak directly towards me
\nDo not be silent\u00a0<\/span>let me bask in your accent\u2014<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

my first words were pale, vast land and highway,
\nmouth dry with Tennessee cornbread, Mom\u2019s
\nbleached wooden spoon stirred in shug-uhr<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>but at school I liked the feel of Spanish<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>in my mouth, en mi boca<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>like ripe black-skinned sweet plantain,
\n\u00a0<\/span>butter-soft and fried, r\u2019s rolling in a hot pan of my saliva.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Before you called me daughter, I had proof<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>tuyo es m\u00edo<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>I am not yours\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 but what\u2019s yours is mine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our embargo lifted its hands \/ off my eyes . . .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3851,"template":"","categories":[9,49,119],"tags":[6,236,547,237,1131,1132],"class_list":["post-3840","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aquifer","category-literary-features","category-poetry","tag-aquifer-the-florida-review-online","tag-cuba","tag-cuban-american-authors","tag-cuban-americans","tag-father-tongue","tag-trinity-tibe"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFather Tongue - The Florida Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Father Tongue - The Florida Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our embargo lifted its hands \/ off my eyes . . .\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Florida Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/07\/Trinity-Tibe-pic-h.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1122\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"618\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/\",\"name\":\"Father Tongue - The Florida Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/07\/Trinity-Tibe-pic-h.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-15T21:01:49+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/07\/Trinity-Tibe-pic-h.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/07\/Trinity-Tibe-pic-h.jpg\",\"width\":1122,\"height\":618,\"caption\":\"Poet Trinity Tibe.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Father Tongue\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/\",\"name\":\"The Florida Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Father Tongue - The Florida Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Father Tongue - The Florida Review","og_description":"Our embargo lifted its hands \/ off my eyes . . .","og_url":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/","og_site_name":"The Florida Review","og_image":[{"width":1122,"height":618,"url":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/07\/Trinity-Tibe-pic-h.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/","url":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/","name":"Father Tongue - The Florida Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/07\/Trinity-Tibe-pic-h.jpg","datePublished":"2019-07-15T21:01:49+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/07\/Trinity-Tibe-pic-h.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2019\/07\/Trinity-Tibe-pic-h.jpg","width":1122,"height":618,"caption":"Poet Trinity Tibe."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/father-tongue\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Father Tongue"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/","name":"The Florida Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/3840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/3840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}