Aimee Suzara
First Ultrasound of a Trickster
What did you sound like, that first time?
A flutter: the wings
of a furious butterfly,
thrum of a colibrí.
Twice my heart’s speed, yours.
A life-force undeniable.
A wild new fish
already swimming upstream,
all swashbuckle and verve,
all grit and ashé. Already
my Santonilyo (1)
playing in my waters:
opening the way.
(1) Santonilyo is the syncretized version of Santo Niño, a deity known to play in the waters and
until current day, helps protect the people. The Santo Niño is seen as a significant figure in the
Catholization of Philippines. It is also regarded, with origins in Cuba as a camino of Elegua, the
trickster (often child-like) orisha.
Originally published in MER 23
Aimee Suzara is a Filipino-American poet, playwright, performer, mother, and educator based in Oakland, CA. Her debut poetry book is Souvenir (2014) and her writing appears in the Lantern Review, Orion Magazine, Poets.organd Raising Mothers. Suzara has been awarded or supported by the Poetry and the Senses at UC Berkeley, A Roomof Her Own Foundation, Hedgebrook, the Kenneth Rainin Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts.