I wrote this poem in May of 2024.

three years ago, I was dealing with the most chaotic move of my life
never thought my new home would see the death of me
the princess who moved in
and the resurrection of the queen I was about to become

I told myself βno expectationsβ
βJust use him for a short timeβ
Thatβs all heβll be good for
But his words, his gaze
His hands, his lips
Felt like home the first night
This canβt be happening
This canβt be real
This isnβt who I want to be with
But my heart wouldnβt listen
To the logic in my head,
The advice from my friends
I had the first hit and I needed to go back-
I feel like a pathetic drug addict-
I told myself βno expectationsβ
And yet a year later-
Here we still are in our
Intense and passionate love affair
I wrote this poem in May of 2024.

saw you and knew right away there wouldnβt be a second date
thought I made that apparent enough at the end
but 3 years later you send me a snap to ask me
if Iβm still interested
Sorry
but the woman you met is no longer who I used to be
maybe you had a chance with her
but the new me-sheβs careful who she gives access to
the new me has cut off any strings left
from the old life the old me use to live

Healthy is boring
When you only know
pain, strife, and destruction
from those who claim to love you
Healthy is boring
when toxicity and chaos
and insecurity
ruled previous relationships
Healthy is boring
when βloveβ was a word
that held me hostage
to previous lovers
Healthy is boring
when for the first time
with a lover
you feel a sureness
With him
And you feel like youβre enough
I wrote this in August of 2020 when

Thoughts in my head
race up and down
Thoughts about
my mediocre reality
Thoughts about all
of the failures in my life–
I want it to stop
but my brain-
my crazy brain wonβt stop
SO I keep thinking
Is it just a matter of time
before he tires of me and leaves?
Will I ever reach that sweet spot
of stability and contentment?
Or will I always live this miserable
experience of dreadful anxiety?
I wrote this poem in May of 2024.

everytime you disappear, I lose an ounce
of the fondness and affection I hold for you
this last time,I didnβt even notice
I thought, good for him
he found someone else to stroke his ego
and validate him
but here you are again
everything I once felt for you
has dried out
and I have nothing left to say
as you try to nonchalantly come back into my life
Iβm filled with indifference this time
holding onto my new sense of empowerment
careful to not again fall under your spell
once again
Here’s a poem I wrote about being Peruvian American:
What was the last live performance you saw?
I wrote this poem in May of 2024.

never understood why you took us with you
maybe it was to assuage your guilt
maybe it was say you really did nice things
for me and my brother
inviting us to an all day road trip to Tijuana
in your air conditioned Blazer
silent as mice and on our best behavior
to not disturb you, your husband and your son
it was all so strange
the only thing I can remember
was the messiest hamburgers
we needed a hundred napkins to eat
and the picture with the donkey
maybe you were kind and graceful
with us at times
but all of that has been lost with the trauma
you incurred on us Iβve blocked out
and 34 years later in my middle age
sitting in my hot car in between jobs
I still donβt understand why you took
us with you
I wrote this poem in May of 2024.

at 9, Mariah Carey taught me to look pretty
even as Iβm suffering, even as Iβm cast aside
for someone else
even as Iβm crying and dying from grief
at 9, Mariah Carey taught me about
all of the lovely and terrible things
that come with falling in love
at 9, Mariah Carey gave me lessons
about life and love
Iβve carried into my middle age
I wrote this poem in May of 2024.

shadows of summerβs past came and haunted me
in dreams, in my most intrusive of thoughts
every summer tragedy comes to the surface
in spring
not allowing me to enjoy the may flowers
that are blooming
not allowing the visual poetry of spring
happening right in front of me
panic attacks, crying spells, dissociative episodes
bursts of anxiety and nightmares
that deprive me of sleep, leaving me in a haze
of despair followed by depression
and I end up in a fog of exhaustion I canβt
seem to get rid of


I wrote this poem in April of 2024.

Ostracized, alienated, and abandoned for being too odd, too much
cried a million tears over the same story
too stubborn to learn from the tragic lessons sent from the universe
naively believed this one will complete me, this one will save me
it wasnβt until my middle age, I had a great catharsis and said
βOH SHIT, I AM ENOUGH!β
I let go of my damsel in distress story
wrote a new story of empowerment and love within
the pages of my journal
Wrote and wrote like a madwoman until I found peace
and closure from anything that traumatized me
come to the conclusion
the only hero I ever needed was the woman in the mirror