"With hurricanes it's not the wind or the noise or the water."
- Victor Hernández Cruz, Problems with Hurricanes
We, abuela and I, watch the back porch and we know.
We know when the empty hammock dances.
We know when the tempo of cyclonic beats
join the crescendo of percussion - pla-pla-pla.
We know when the whispers come haunting
and the moisture on our skin hints of Yemaya.
We know when the scurry of tiny feet run,
snapping branches under the breeding of thunder and lighting.
We know when the high pitch of barrels interprets the pounding of raindrops.
We know.