I’ve had many Muses in my 41 years some have stayed my kids, my co-parent, my chosen family some have used me as a temporary destination countless friends and lovers theyβve abandoned me or I’ve abandoned them but all who have stayed or gone have inspired me in writing my life’s story through poetry so to my past, present, and future muses I am forever grateful for inspiring the most amazing and crazy creativity without you all, I wouldnβt have anything worth writing about-
this year I lost myself in poetry to help with unexpected loss and grief to make sense of my nonsense and I discovered my voice And I discovered my brand of crazy and thereβs hardly a day that goes by without using poetry as therapy I no longer filter myself, I no longer judge myself I allow whatever swims in my mind to land on paper and sometimes it profound and great Sometimes itβs emotional and angry but most of the time it heals something within Maybe poetry should be my new lover because itβs always rescued me from my chaos of emotional instability
text message from me to the person who inspired this poem
Maybe I was captious in thinking you wanted sex but you were really depressed and needed help I was moody and tired and couldnβt be bothered so I turned off my phone and wanted to be alone I thought it was no big deal to not get back on our idiot ferris wheel and now I hope itβs not too late and prioritizing myself wasnβt a mistake because I couldnβt stand the thought of you harming yourself be my fault
There are so many stories within me aching to get out every single one wants to be a priority but which one do I pick first most are dramatic, some are angry and sad, a few are happy and lovely every story is important in a life full of chaos and trauma I donβt know why I attract so much drama So Iβm going to tell each story Because I own everything thatβs happened to me Because Iβm finally taking myself seriously
weβre procrastinating our end not wanting to face the consequences of our doomed relationship so we keep wasting our time pretending weβre fine putting a bandaid of sex on our petty conflicts and keep using each other as blankets for our loneliness instead of being grown ups and admit how our love is no longer worth any effort
it was important for me to learn emotion regulation skills this year
My sense of urgency was lost When I finally felt like enough I no longer had a rush To jump to the next crush I no longer had a need to have a lover next to me I no longer wanted to be love addicted I finally learned To me I needed to return I finally had a new outlook And I started a new storybook I finally understood Itβs okay to live my truth And now my sense of urgency rarely appears After so many tears and months of therapy
is it the devil who takes over me and makes me crazy? Or is it God punishing me for past mistakes or maybe it isnβt either And I really have fucked up genetics
I fell into the trap of βacceptanceβ not understanding I was slowly losing parts of myself for the sake of fitting in, for the sake of other people who loved to judge me accept that youβre too fat to wear that bikini accept that youβre too old to chase your dreams accept that youβre too hard to love it took me too long to figure out the acceptance of others was costing me my sanity and my self worth and I said, βfuck your opinions on who I should beβ from now on, Iβll wear whatever I want, Iβll chase my dreams, and Iβll always be worthy of loveβ
slaying every day with my hard work ethic and my paper and pen
What is the last thing you learned?
Learning to uncensor myself was a hard process I always walked on eggshells for the comfort of others Said yes when I wanted to say no Toned myself down for fear of being too much Accommodated constantly to keep the peace Cut off pieces of myself to make myself digestible But I got too old and tired of hiding who I really am of continuing to pretend to be something Iβm not or never will be so I chose to stop hiding the real me whoβs loud and dramatic whoβs crazy and creative whoβs moody and depressed who βs a beautiful and majestic Incan Queen
I had forgotten this poem I wrote in 2002 when I was going through something pretty hard.
Iβve fallen out of- Iβm no longer yours to- I keep trying to find the right words to tell you Iβm done with βusβ but everytime I try it all feels so inadequate and I fall under a blanket of shame and guilt and I canβt go through with it
picture of how it feels of when I’m asked “what’s your bra size?”
What is one question you hate to be asked? Explain.
I hate it when men ask me, βwhatβs your bra size?β itβs like my bust-line invites unwanted and sexist questions and comments about my body and it makes me want to throw up and write about them violently because out of all of the questions in the world to ask ME, a mother, a public health worker, a grocery store clerk, an immigrant, a Peruvian, an American, a friend, a poet, a blogger, a woman, a PERSON- they choose to ask me an awkward question about my body- I used to entertain them and tell them while laughing uncomfortably holding in my disgust and anger for them but now I either ignore them, call them out, or block them my boobs or any part of my body are no longer up for the objectification of others
Lately i reach out to God and the stars to comfort me and reassure me Lately i embrace the universe and the sun for faith and warmth Lately I look in the mirror for the definition of strength and resilience Lately I write my love story filled with the wonders and horrors of love
I wrote this poem in December of 2021. I was kind of angry. Lol.
performing this poem at open mic in October of 2022
Letβs hashtag the fuck out of our imperfect perfect lives smile for the camera but make it look candid this is for instagram after all- we want to present an image of authenticity Authentic needs to look put together and balanced there can be no cracks in our suburban realities no one wants to see tears and frowns letβs continue to act like modern clowns except our lipsticks presents a false smile that hides our misery inside and letβs add a witty caption that spells out live,laugh, love and hashtags about #momlife,#gratitude, and #bestlifeever depression, sadness, and anger has no room in our modern world where we pretend to be perfectly imperfect moms and wives with these amazing and perfect lives letβs continue the facade of authenticity even as we burn inside and want to die we are not just okay but we are fucking fabulous so honey continue to smile for that selfie even as the expectations of modern womanhood continues to burn us all up