Before the thonged bodysuit and heels,
there were fan-flairs, feathered tail skirts,
salsa dancers, gyrating musicians
whose horns bopped with Iris,
and she, with her red hair, swayed
and whiplashed, as her head bopped again,
to the congas, to the timbales,
signaling her entrance.
La Bomba de Puerto Rico broke God’s mold,
too voluptuous to be Adam’s rib,
too young to bear Abraham’s children,
but when the trombones blare
and the tamboras bang their beat,
Iris is the woman who ignites
a four alarm fire, and when the bomberos
arrive at the scene, she’s wearing her signature
black thonged bodysuit and heels.
She captures the fireman’s hat.
She’s captain on the fire truck
the drum roll begins her wild wriggle,
and she folds her legs,
one in front of the other, turns
bows and bends over to face
every musician on stage,
with her rear gracing the audience.
Ms. Ortiz holds a Master’s in Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing from The Solstice Creative Writing Program at Pine Manor College and is a writer and poet. She co-edited All About Skin: Short Fiction by Women of Color (the University of Wisconsin Press, 2014) with writer and editor, Rochelle Spencer. Her short story, “Maribel y El Viejo,” was published in the anthology, Daring to Write: Contemporary Writings by Dominican Women (University of Georgia Press, 2016) She has numerous poems published in poetry and literary journals and magazines.
