I wrote this poem in March of 2025.

try to keep my romantic spirit alive
with a swenting of a man who doesnβt exist
Yet
a man I will call my boyfriends y el amor de mi vida
I wrote this poem in March of 2025.

subtitles jump from my phone screen violently
one of the few films from 1950βs mexico
that address domestic violence
one of the few films to portray the man
as the crazy one
but instead of him going to prison
for his many crimes against his wife
he ends up locked up in a monastery
I wrote this poem in March of 2022.

Check your privilege at the door
every single white person who comes
asking for my opinion
I canβt be your agreeable POC anymore
Check your privilege at the door
Iβm not the voice for my community
with you, certain topics I canβt explore
donβt use me as another learning opportunity
I wrote this poem in March of 2025.

one day in bed and my son acts like its the end of the world
demands I get up and act like an adult
like the mother heβs used to seeing
but in defiance, I stay in bed
reading poetry and allow the muse to come and allow me
to pour out of me and land on paper
for once I wonβt allow the patriarchy define how I should act,
who I should be
for once I allow the poet me to be my first priority
I wrote this poem in March of 2022.

I shouldnβt wish death upon anyone
but I wish death upon you
the minute your child posted about your open heart surgery
and immediately , it makes sense,
a man with a weak mind has an even weaker heart
I shouldnβt wish death upon anyone
but I wish death upon you
couldnβt you die on the operating table?
you never deserved your life with your beautiful children
you-who made me carry the burden of shame and guilt
for years and years
I shouldnβt wish death upon anyone but I wish death upon you
you-who desecrated my morality and ethics through
your domestic authority
I shouldnβt wish death upon anyone but I wish death upon you
because someone like doesnβt deserve to breathe
the same breath of real human beings
I wrote this poem in March of 2025.

in total darkness I fell for a while
for a year I didnβt listen to music
For a year I donβt remember being a mom
and while I still function and went to work
Several years later
I realize how I had forgotten all about
the darkness I had fallen in a while ago
my mind blocked it in an attempt to move on
in an attempt to heal
I wrote this in March of 2022.

When I was little, I was often lost in daydreams
about America
It was beautiful and blue
I pictured a celestial and warm ocean
where the waves tenderly touch my toes
I was taught it was a better existence than
the one we were living in
but no one told me that dreams sometimes
donβt come true
and the reality of America was filled with a hardness
that even 35 years later Iβm still processing
indentured servitude, exploitation, depression,
addiction,racism, mental illness were just a few side effects
of going for the American dream
I wrote this poem in March of 2021.

I donβt want to but have to be the boss
the boss of my family
the boss in my relationships
the boss of my life
it sucks to take charge and dominate all of the spaces
it sucks to have so many responsibilities thrust upon me
it sucks to always have to shrink myself for egos
it sucks to never be in a space where for once
I can be soft
I wrote this poem in March of 2019.

Feeling hopeless in a cesspool of a world
That will never accept you
-for your skin color
-for your accent
-for your nationality
-for your religion or lack of one
-for your independent thought
Anything that doesnβt fit the image
of white and Christian is blasphemous
To be an βotherβ is to carry the weight of racism,
discrimination, xenophobia
All the phobias on your already burdened shoulders
So they try to kill us with actual guns Or
metaphorical ones of insults,rejections or looks of disgust.