Baila Manuel

 MANUEL DANCES (1938)

Evaristo Ribera Chevremont 
 
 
A lamp and two candles. Manuel dances. La bomba.
He flips his swarthy form in the background;
and, to the beats of his primitive leather, buckles.
Young animal fervor exposes his waist.
 
He highlights his stylish finesse amongst the group
of agile dancers. The force of his skill.
His dark and smooth skin shines of grease.
Everything in him, denounces the importance of race.
 
The singing of the girls rises after the sudden sound
of la bomba. Hervorean of the Ethiopian footpaths.
The sky, of pure blue, fiercely bitten
by suns. In the fields, coca plantations, lemon trees.
 
The air is full with the hot aroma
of the earth and men. Manuel dances. His hands
and feet say everything that he is. Rapidly, 
crossing through the nocturnal shadows of primates.