Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings

The memoir’s title Enchanted Air refers the freedom the author feels while in Cuba, and this builds into a motif that includes references to wings and flying in various forms. Part 2’s poem “News” references “flying” in the “enchanted air” of Cuba before describing the author’s first glimpses of war and conflict. For Engle, the motif illustrates the inspiration nature has upon the author’s poetic imagination. In addition to references to centaurs and other mythical and magical creatures, the author makes numerous references to imaginary wings and enchanted air that symbolize creativity as a secondary form of Travel, linking this motif to the Travel theme as well.

In Part 2, “Learning Many Meanings” uses an image of air to demonstrate the author’s early observations of the dichotomy that exists between cultures. She refers to the old women of Cuba, described in earlier poems as ordinary people, noting they “love fresh air, but they are also / afraid of aires, a word that can be a whoosh / of refreshing sky-breath, or it can mean / dangerous spirits” (10). The author’s placement of “afraid of aires” and “of refreshing sky-breath” at the beginning of each line in the final