Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings

Mami is the author’s Cuban mother. Born in Trinidad, she maintains her Cuban citizenship throughout the text, unwilling to give up the final link to her family in Cuba. Consequently, Mami is described as a “stateless / Cuban ghost” at the end of the memoir in “Travel Plans” (169), and experiences ongoing struggles with her passport because of her status.

Mami is an important figure in the motif of Bravery and Courage. Several poems comment on Mami’s anxiety including “Four Years Before I Existed,” “Damaged Air,” and “Wings.” In each of these poems the author juxtaposes her Mami’s anxiety with small acts of bravery, foregrounding her character as brave rather than emphasizing the insecurities these highlight. This parallels moments when the author identifies herself as brave in poems like “Runaway Horses” and suggests the closeness of their relationship.

The author’s father appears less frequently throughout the memoir than Mami, Mad, or Abuelita. His characterization figures primarily as a representation of the American culture that juxtaposes the Cuban culture in the Cultural Dichotomy and Belonging theme. He is Ukrainian American, his family emigrating to the US during the Holocaust, which the author only alludes to in “Learning to Listen.” He is an artist and professor who travels to continue learning new things, an influence upon the author that develops the Travel theme as seen in “Travel Plans,” when she describes his “wanderlust” (169). She alludes to this influence again in the Author’s Note, which follows the narrative.

Two poems develop Dad’s character more fully: “My American Dad” and “Imaginary Horses.” Both poems allude to Spanish epic Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, published in two parts in 1605 and 1615. The author references her father’s quixotic influence upon her in “My American Dad” when she explains her “blue-green-gray” eyes resemble her father instead of her mother (20). She adds that her “eyes look like Don Quixote’s / neither happy not completely sad, / just daydreamy, / and wistful” (20), suggesting her father shares a similar tendency to dream. Don Quixote is a character that represents the bygone era of knights and chivalry, creating a pattern of romantic, pastoral symbolism foreshadowed in “Four Years Before I Existed” when the author first alludes to the chivalric tradition. Despite his role as a background character, his characterization makes Dad an important character within the Pastoral Imagery and Magical Nature theme.