I wrote this poem in April of 2025.

tower records at 14, the beginning of my double life
the one where I went strange boys and smoked cigarette with them
the beginning of a mental illness
I wouldnβt get diagnosed with almost 30 years later
I wrote this poem in April of 2022.

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
I wrote this poem in April of 2022.

When I open my eyes,I whine and grunt
Another day where I whine,whine, whine
Working to live? Or living to work?
I canβt remember which is better
Living is really just guesswork
Maybe today I wonβt feel so much anger
Perhaps I should find hope in this new day
Instead of living in doom and gloom
Maybe the darkness will stay away
Or Iβll cry at work in the bathroom again
I wrote this poem in April of 2025.

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
I wrote this poem in March of 2023.

we lie to ourselves continuously about our needs
to save face, to avoid conquering our fears
to not feel insecure
weβll tell ourselves we are better off alone and independent
when in reality as humans
we are meant to be social
we are meant to share ourselves with others
but itβs cooler to say, βIβm good with my solitude,
Iβm my own best friendβ
because deep down inside we donβt want to get hurt again
I wrote this poem in March of 2022.

her warmth keeps me safe and loved
it protects me from the harshness of this world
I call her Mami
her strength inspires me to stand up for myself
it makes me want to become a better version of myself
I call her my sister
Her ability to be there for me keeps me from dying
It keeps from falling into a dark abyss
I call her my friend
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