Drum Dream Girl

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2015

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Poem Analysis

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Further Reading & Resources

Related Poems

“Tula [Books are door-shaped]“ by Margarita Engle (2013)

“Tula” is the name of several poems in Engle’s book The Lightning Dreamer. Like the drum dream girl Millo, the titular Tula is a historical feminist Cuban figure. Tula is the nickname of Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda—an abolitionist poet, playwright, and novelist who started to publish her work in 1840. Tula was forbidden to read, which is comparable to how Millo was forbidden to play drums. Both female figures transcend the gender boundaries of their society at various times.

“Kinship“ by Margarita Engle (2015)

This poem explores Engle’s own mixed heritage. She contrasts her Mami’s stories about Cuba with the stories her Ukrainian-Jewish-American grandmother tells. The stories of her Cuban relatives include details about “tropical” (Line 6) life on the “island” (Line 5). Similar details about Cuba are included in Drum Dream Girl.

“The Drum“ by Nancy Morejón (2003)

Nancy Morejón is a modern Cuban poet. Like the Castro sisters, she was born in Havana, but a few years later in 1944. Her poem “The Drum” is featured on the Smith College website as part of her profile as a visiting poet there. It emphasizes the role of drumming, especially its physicality, upon which Engle touches in her poem.

Further Literary Resources

Queens of Havana: The Amazing Adventures of Anacaona, Cuba’s Legendary All-Girl Dance Band by Alicia Castro (2007)

This book was Engle’s inspiration and source material for Drum Dream Girl. It is written by one of Millo’s sisters, Alicia—the saxophone player and leader of the band Anacaona that Millo eventually joined as a drummer. The band performs music for dancers at street cafes in Cuba and garnered international fame in the 1930s.

"Rafael Lopez’s blog post on Millo"(2017)

Rafael López, the artist who illustrated Drum Dream Girl, posted this blog a few years after the book’s publication. He includes a photograph of Millo with her sisters, biographical information about Millo, and some early sketches of his art—as well as some of his completed illustrations-for the collaboration with Engle.

"1937 Performance by Anacaona"

This is a recording of the Castro sisters in 1937. While the line-up of the all-girl dance band Anacaona changed over the years, this recording is of the line-up including Millo—the drum dream girl of Engle’s poem—on drums.

"Havana Music School blog on Anacaona" (2020)

This music school features Millo’s band on their website as an example of women and traditions in Cuban music. Readers can learn about the ongoing evolution of the band that the Castro sisters founded and that inspired Engle’s poem. They even include a link to a performance by a contemporary line-up of the all-girl band.

Listen to Poem

Dreamscape Media’s Animated Adaptation of Drum Dream Girl

Readers of Engle’s poem can experience it in another form: Dreamscape Media’s award-winning animation of López’s illustrations. There is a free trailer as well as purchase options for the full-length feature through Dreamscape Media’s Vimeo site.