{"id":2609,"date":"2026-08-13T06:47:35","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T10:47:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/?p=2609"},"modified":"2026-08-13T06:47:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T10:47:35","slug":"bahia-bioluminiscente-vieques-puerto-rico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/bahia-bioluminiscente-vieques-puerto-rico\/","title":{"rendered":"Bah\u00eda Bioluminiscente (Vieques, Puerto Rico)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"su-row\"><div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-2\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<p>When the light comes in\u2014a tipsy pour<br \/>\nof champagne exuberance rushing<br \/>\nsternward beneath our clear-bottom<br \/>\nboats, oars dip-dip-dipping as tiny gods<br \/>\nconjuring constellations in league with<br \/>\nour strong bodies\u2014water constellations<br \/>\nof millions dwarf archer, bull, compass,<br \/>\ndog, dippers mother and child, the<br \/>\nseven sisters, looming silent above.<\/p>\n<p>We eight sisters below scoop stars<br \/>\nfrom blackness. Our bodies heave,<br \/>\npulling against wind &amp; current,<br \/>\ndistill agitation, saline, sea, mangrove<br \/>\ndebris into moon shine and water light<br \/>\nIf we frighten you like the <em>pirata<\/em> Cofres\u00ed\u2014<br \/>\nwho claimed bewitched waters against<br \/>\nthe Spanish, against the US Americans who<br \/>\nturned, bore their crosses and impotence<br \/>\nback through narrow channel\u2014<br \/>\nthen our treasure, magnificent<br \/>\ntracking, the pull and rudder of<br \/>\nour ancient oars, is nothing for you.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div> <div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-2\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<p>Yes! we scoff delightedly at<br \/>\nthe happy epithet of witch,<br \/>\nthe peaks and troughs of our teeth<br \/>\nfilled with luciferin, breath-<br \/>\nwork of luciferin startling<br \/>\npredators as we glide, grins<br \/>\naglow in the devil\u2019s bay\u2014<br \/>\nthrowing shade at States,<br \/>\nmarauders, monotony\u2014we glow,<\/p>\n<p>grow, reverse the night into gloaming<br \/>\nas we metabolize fallen leaves of<br \/>\nthe mangrove, detritus of the bay,<br \/>\nof seven oceans, of the continents<br \/>\nbetween; like the <em>bah\u00eda<\/em> we are vigor and<br \/>\nwild shine after the hurling, hurried winds<br \/>\nof hurricane, heartbreak, hardship. Light-<br \/>\nening in dark, hearts of <em>kokuio<\/em>, wayfarers we.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poetry-spacer\" style=\"display: inline-block;width: 2em\">\u00a0<\/span>glossary:<br \/>\n<em><span class=\"poetry-spacer\" style=\"display: inline-block;width: 2em\">\u00a0<\/span>bah\u00eda<\/em> \u2013 bay<br \/>\n<em><span class=\"poetry-spacer\" style=\"display: inline-block;width: 2em\">\u00a0<\/span>bioluminiscente<\/em> \u2013 bioluminescent<br \/>\n<em><span class=\"poetry-spacer\" style=\"display: inline-block;width: 2em\">\u00a0<\/span>pirata<\/em> \u2013 pirate<br \/>\n<em><span class=\"poetry-spacer\" style=\"display: inline-block;width: 2em\">\u00a0<\/span>kokuio<\/em> \u2013 Ta\u00edno word for firefly<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":4227,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"issue":[6885],"class_list":["post-2609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","issue-6885"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-22 13:23:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4227"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2609"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2766,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2609\/revisions\/2766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2609"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/plum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=2609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}