Kansas City poet XanathCaraza recently published the poetry chapbook Corazon Pintado, a book of "ekphrastic poems" – or poems that respond to other works of art.
Yanga, Yanga, Yanga
Yanga, Yanga, Yanga
Today, your spirit I invoke
Here, in this place
This, this is my poem for Yanga
Mandinga, malanga, bamba
Rumba, mambo, samba.
Caraza says the poem Yanga was inspired by the African history and rhythms of her home state of Veracruz, Mexico. Yanga was a historical figure who came to Mexico as a slave, and escaped, eventually founding a free community that became town bearing his name.
Many of the other poems in the book are accompanied by the paintings that inspired them.
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