Drum Dream Girl is a free-verse poem that was published as a children’s book illustrated by Rafael López. There are 105 lines in 21 stanzas of varying lengths. In the book, most stanzas are given two adjacent pages filled with colorful art. The speaker takes on the role of narrator, telling a poetic story in the third-person about the life of a Chinese-African-Cuban drummer named Millo Castro Zaldarriaga.

The first stanza establishes a sense of place and introduces Millo, who is not named within the poem (but named in an author’s note at the end of the book). Lines 1 and 2 set the scene—an island where music is very important. The placement of “music” (Line 1) at the end of the first line establishes its significance. The second line zooms in on a “city” (Line 2) on the island. Like the narrowing from island to city, the narrator focuses on one specific element of music: “drumbeats” (Line 2).

Lines 3 and 4 introduce the main character of the poem, Millo, who is referred to throughout the poem as the “drum dream girl” (Line 3). She is defined as being a dreamer. This is emphasized in the