My contribution is a song in Spanish by a Cuban exile, Willy Chirino. He left Cuba as a part of operation Peter Pan where parents sent their children over alone in order to give them the best chance at a better future after the Cuban revolution. The song details how he left, what he brought with him on the trip, how he felt as an exile in a new place, but also how much love he still has for the place he was exiled from, and the hope he has to return one day. See below for a video of him singing the song, and here for a translation of the lyrics.

I also include a quote by Cuban poet Pablo Medina about exile. “The exile, I know this firsthand, has lost the place where he was and turned it into the source of his myths, the root of his longing, and the aroma of his despair,” Medina writes. “For the Cuban, who had his exile coursing through his blood, nostalgia is, has always been, the cradle and grave of his passions. He cannot love without invoking loss and he cannot sing without his mouth filling with grief. The exile has two births—that which brings him into the world and that which brings him into exile—both dominated by the trauma of expulsion.” I think this quote really captures the exile experience and goes very well with the song.