I am a witch and sometimes a bitch if youβre lucky Youβll see the sweet side of me where I’m your real life magical wet dream come true If youβre unlucky, youβll meet the BPD me the worst bitch youβll regret meeting in your entire life because if you treat me badly, Iβll make sure youβre laugh at when I read a poem about you at open mic
my first lesson in forgetting spanish came at age 6, that first week in first grade at holy spirit when Spanish came out of my mouth and sister Loretto screamed at tme and threatened me with the ruler I donβt remember what she said bu t I was deeply impacted learned to be good, to be obedient was to forget who I was and quickly I made my brain believe English was better, English was the language for survival in my adopted homeland and like a sponge, I absorbed it I didnβt lose heart when I was placed in the lowest reading group, didnβt cry when I mispronounced a word, and my classmates laugh I just kept on going understood that my parents sacrifice in coming here needed to be worth it there was so much pressure on my shoulders to succeed at age 6 instead of playing make believe and getting lost in disney fantasies my priority was to learn English and become my parents american dream
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
before I was diagnosed with BPD, I was very sick I wished and wished to be anyone else but me I really wanted to be a middle class white woman the kind who grew up with 2 parents in a 2 story house the kind who never had to assimilate to fit it the kind who never had to to fill out a FAFSA application the kind who was never neglected and whose feelings were always validated the kind who writes stories or poems about her favorite horse instead of stories or poems about constantly feeling like a stranger in your adopted homeland the kind who is mostly respected by men and not fetichized or called exotic the kind whoβs never had 2 jobs to survive in this capitalistic society before I was diagnosed with BPD,I was very sick I wished and wished to be anyone else but me but three years into recovery Iβve healed and wouldnβt want to be anyone else because while itβs true that many people donβt struggle as much me everyone (even middle class white women) still have their own set of insecurities and trauma I know nothing about Iβve learned I need to focus on myself, feel gratitude for everything I have as I reach my goals and chase my dreams and most importantly I now love and embrace who Iβve been, who I am, who I will be I no longer play a game of envy and view myself as a broken mess of who Iβve been or whatβs happened to me I was never those things Iβm a beautiful mosaic of everything Iβve endured, experienced and lived
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
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
weβre in our saorsa era, redemptive and honest a complete 180 turn to who we were before a story I like so much better than our last one always said I was a much better friend and girlfriend
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
Cowboy with your boots and maga hat Stay away from me forget I ever existed forget that once upon a time I was your wendy to your peter forget I always flew to you when you texted me
I should go back to where I come from and where is that exactly here -is the only real home I’ve ever known here – is where all of my babies were born here- is where I’ve loved and I’ve mourned so where is my place because anywhere else feels like a home unknown
hot summer nights on your porch meant the world to me and inspired an unusual amount of poems Iβm starting to think that writing poems is how I hold onto the magic of our memories
longing to escape responsibility of my suburban life I became 21 again and did drugs and fucked stranger men I never meant any harm, I just wanted to know what it was like to not be looked at as someoneβs mother, someoneβs wife
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
Sept of 1986-me blowing out a candle right before me and my family started our immigration journey-my aunt had a goodbye party for us
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