Sade Saves the Night—Again!
By David Ramos
Behind me I can hear the indigenous orchestra of coqui’s, and the occasional neighing of a horse; I’m in “La Isla de Encanto,” my beloved Puerto Rico. I caught this insane flight from JFK—get this, leaves at 1:00am, arrives at 4:30am! The flight was rather turbulent, at one point we hit this wicked air pocket that jerked the plane violently, I haven’t felt one of those in a long time. To make a long story short, after several hours of percolating gastric juices and praying in tongues, I made it to Raphael Hernandez Airport in Aguadilla; hey don’t laugh, you feel one of those and that will put the spook and the spirit on you real fast!
As soon as I walked off the stairs of the airplane, felt the Caribbean heat, and smelled the island I was ecstatic; I was so glad to be in Puerto Rico, I felt like I was home. I remember when my uncles would come visit us in New York and they would open up their luggage, I could smell Puerto Rico in their clothes—that organic smell of soil and vegetation would somehow also make the trip and bestow us with its blessing.
This trip was one of those “Gotta get out here now!” trips. You know the kind I’m talking about, the kind when mental health biscuits and emotional French fries converge and escalate into a full blown 911 status. Well here I am, but somehow, unlike my uncles, I have brought my funk with me. After several days of decompression I still feel some stress, but I think I discovered part of the cure. I just bought an Ipod, and with it, a JBL donut speaker system. I’m truly excited about this because now I’m a dangerous, mobile, wanna-be DJ creating mood-altering schemas wherever I go. Tonight’s prescription? Sade!!! Sade is providing the texture of my evening. I absolutely, totally love this woman (Honey, as an artist baby, an artist)! Through the years I have turned to Sade’s music at different seasons and for different reasons, oops. Her music is sensuous and at once profound. In life she has suffered and this pathos is demonstrable in her work. As I was journaling I caught the lyrics of, “Keep Looking” and it really ministered to me. For contextual reasons, “Siempre Hay Esperanza” was also a player. For stilling my soul tonight I played, “I Never Thought I’d See the Day.” Hey, don’t take my word for it, try this, lie down, clear your mind, relax, breathe softly and play, “Haunt Me” and allow your soul to come to rest. Thanks Sade, for saving the night, yet again.