--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Suenos. Dulces Suenos. He must be…" description: "\"“Suenos. Dulces Suenos. He must be painting upstairs. I can feel it. I remember when his father was just a baby and I called her Mama for the first tim..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a97/rafael-alvarez-165238_first-time_suenos-dulces-suenos-he-must-be-painting_440833.jpg" --- # Suenos. Dulces Suenos. He must be painting upstairs. I can… ![“Suenos. Dulces Suenos. He must be painting upstairs. I can feel it. I remember when his father was just a baby and I called her Mama for the first time and she became Mama for all of us; Mama de la casa and his father would wake up in the middle of the night and scream in his crib and nothing…” quote by Rafael Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a97/rafael-alvarez-165238_first-time_suenos-dulces-suenos-he-must-be-painting_440833.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a97/rafael-alvarez-165238_first-time_suenos-dulces-suenos-he-must-be-painting_440833.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a97/rafael-alvarez-165238_first-time_suenos-dulces-suenos-he-must-be-painting_440833.jpg) > ““Suenos. Dulces Suenos. He must be painting upstairs. I can feel it. I remember when his father was just a baby and I called her Mama for the first time and she became Mama for all of us; Mama de la casa and his father would wake up in the middle of the night and scream in his crib and nothing would make him stop, nada, and Mama would get so exhausted she would turn her back to me and cry in her pillow. I would smooth her hair-it was black, Basilio, as black as an olive-and I would turn on the radio (electricity, Basilio, in the middle of the night), to maybe calm the baby and listen to something besides the screaming. Mama liked the radio, Basilio, and we listened while your father cried-cantante negra, cantante de almas azules-and it made us feel a little better, helped us make it through. I had to get up early to catch the streetcar to the shipyard, but when the crying finally stopped sometimes the sun would be ready to pop and Mama's breathing would slow down and her shoulders would move like gentle waves, sleeping but still listening, like I can hear her now on this good bed, and Basilio-Mira, hombre, I will not tell you this again-if I moved very close and kissed her shoulders, she would turn to face me and we would have to be quiet Basilio, under the music, very, very quiet… So this I want to know, Basilio. This, if you want to live on Macon Street for another minute. Can you paint an apple baked soft in the oven, an apple filled with cinnamon and raisins? Can you paint such a woman? Are you good enough yet with those brushes so that she will step out of your pictures to turn on the radio in the middle of the night? Will she visit an old man on his death bed? If you cannot do that, Basilio, there is no need for you to live here anymore.”” [Rafael Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafael-alvarez/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A mother’s exhaustion, love, and music soothe a crying baby, while artistic longing seeks meaning in everyday struggles. **In simple terms:** Mother’s love and music calm hardship; art seeks purpose. Key Takeaway Find solace in music and art during hardship. Themes family art music comfort struggle Mood intimate melancholic Type narrative poetic When to use this quote - caring for infants - late night caregiving - artistic creation - seeking purpose - coping mechanisms Key Concepts maternal love creative expression resilience Questions to Reflect On - How does music help you cope? - What does painting an apple symbolize? A Different Perspective Art may not solve practical needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amor/) [Basilio Listened](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/basilio-listened-3866179/) [Basilio Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/basilio-music-3866184/) [First time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-time/) [Good enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-enough/) [Mama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mama/) [Middle of the night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-of-the-night/) [Old man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-man/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Quiet Basilio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quiet-basilio-3866180/) [Sentiment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sentiment/) [Suenos Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suenos-painting-3866182/) ## Related quotes > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. 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Interest, not sentiment, directs them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/politicians-neither-love-nor-hate-interest-not-sentiment-directs-them/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Some read for style, and some for argument: one has little care about the sentiment, he observes only how it is expressed; another regards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/some-read-for-style-and-some-for-argument-one-has-little-care-about/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [With cooking, there's always the tangible and the intangible: that which is in the domain of sentiment, of the individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-ducasse/with-cooking-there-s-always-the-tangible-and-the-intangible-that/) [Alain Ducasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-ducasse/) > [This sentiment of self-contempt is a frequent one in young people of both sexes. 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They shared an intimate moment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-h-septimius/he-returned-her-gaze-yearning-for-sentimental-solace-love-which/) [A. H. Septimius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-h-septimius/) > [A lost love. Deny it who will, ridicule it, treat it as mere imagination and sentiment, the thing is and will be; and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/a-lost-love-deny-it-who-will-ridicule-it-treat-it-as-mere-imagination/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [I don't agree with the sentiment 'write what you know.'... I think one should write what one doesn't know. The world is bigger and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/i-don-t-agree-with-the-sentiment-write-what-you-know-i-think-one/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) ## More Amor quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? 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Dulces Suenos. He must be painting upstairs. I can feel it. I remember when his father was just a baby and I called her Mama for the first time and she became Mama for all of us; Mama de la casa and his father would wake up in the middle of the night and scream in his crib and nothing would make him stop, nada, and Mama would get so exhausted she would turn her back to me and cry in her pillow. I would smooth her hair-it was black, Basilio, as black as an olive-and I would turn on the radio (electricity, Basilio, in the middle of the night), to maybe calm the baby and listen to something besides the screaming. Mama liked the radio, Basilio, and we listened while your father cried-cantante negra, cantante de almas azules-and it made us feel a little better, helped us make it through. I had to get up early to catch the streetcar to the shipyard, but when the crying finally stopped sometimes the sun would be ready to pop and Mama's breathing would slow down and her shoulders would move like gentle waves, sleeping but still listening, like I can hear her now on this good bed, and Basilio-Mira, hombre, I will not tell you this again-if I moved very close and kissed her shoulders, she would turn to face me and we would have to be quiet Basilio, under the music, very, very quiet… So this I want to know, Basilio. This, if you want to live on Macon Street for another minute. Can you paint an apple baked soft in the oven, an apple filled with cinnamon and raisins? Can you paint such a woman? Are you good enough yet with those brushes so that she will step out of your pictures to turn on the radio in the middle of the night? Will she visit an old man on his death bed? 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