
I want to hold on to whatβs real
and not be stuck in a daydream
I want to live in my present
And not stuck in my past
I want to be over you
and not be triggered
by the memory of you
I wrote this poem in July of 2024.

it wasnβt until today I realized how ordinary you really were
It wasnβt that you were ever that interesting or special
It was me with my lovergirl delusional glasses
refusing to see past what was in front of me
Seeing and getting caught up in fantasies
of who you could be
when really you were, the most ordinary of men
not malicious, not especially intelligent
not really helpful
just kind of existing without any spark
without anything that would make me
look twice at you now

Pretty gets me in a man’s door
but also makes me feel like a whore
I’ve been pretty sexy, pretty nice, pretty sweet
I’ve also been pretty crazy, pretty Petty, and pretty mean
men love me when I’m pretty and submissive
but not when I’m pretty reclusive
men want the pretty girl who’s fun
but not when I’m a pretty girl who’s a selfish cunt
pretty gets me notice
but also gets me dismissed

Men love a pretty mess like me
especially the nice ones who want to fix me and save me
Iβm their pretty princess whoβs so lovely and sweet
And for some, my pussy makes them think or say they love me
but when I turn from a pretty mess to a crazy and chaotic hurricane
they can’t stand to be around me and run away
βI never signed up for this, you’re toxicβ
and I cry and then laugh at the absurdity
you don’t get to choose just to love the fun part of me
because that’s not love
that’s their primal need and lust for me disguised as loved
because real love accepts everything about me
I wrote this poem in July of 2024.

to see my american dream I just need to step into my backyard
and look at my holy trinity who call me mom
theyβre the ones I try to better myself for
theyβre the one who make my immigrant existence
worth living for
theyβre my american dream wrapped up in burps, dark humor
and love
I wrote this poem in July of 2024.

july, july, july
itβs the month where I lose my mind
the heat gets to me and turns up the BSC in me
you wonβt find me sweet and eager to please in July
you wonβt find me full of ruffles and flowery phrases
in poetry
youβll find me being a ball of immigrant rage and fury
youβll find me a woman whoβs had enough
of the American dream bullshit
and ready to roar and scream out everything wrong
with this country
escribΓ este poema en Junio del 2024.

Entre la espada y la pared me encuentro otra vez
es tiempo para otra evoluciΓ³n, otro renacimiento
pero me siento cΓ³moda donde estoy
me siento tranquila aqui
donde no tengo que dar explicaciones a nadie
pero el universo tiene otros planes para mi
pronto vendrΓ‘ alguien o algo que me moverΓ‘ el piso
y denuevo caerΓ© en el caos sin querer queriendo
I wrote this poem in June of 2024.

as long as there is breath left in me
I will try
try to be a good mom to my kids
try to tell my story
try to love everyone the best way
i can
try to find understanding
for what happened to me
try to find joy in the most ordinary
of moments
try to dance my way through
my most depressive episodes
try find my inner peace and calm
I wrote this poem in June of 2024.

hold onto hope, donβt let go
one day youβll laugh about this
one day youβll be okay
hold onto hope, donβt let go
Remember all of the times
youβve been strong
Remember all of the times
you put one foot in front of the other
hold onto hope, donβt let go
your story is still being written
youβre still in time to change
your narrative

Iβm used to being a doormat
always allowing peopleβs energy to pollute
my life and take up my time
itβs the people pleaser in me who needed to fawn
be easy to get along with with,always avoiding conflict,
become the person they want me to be, always easy to digest and swallow
cutting away pieces of my authenticity-
never valuing myself or putting myself first
It was learned martyrdom from the women in my family
Internalized misogyny sold to me at young age
dressed up as selfless acts of love
but Iβm done sacrificing myself for others
Itβs time to unlearn this toxic way of loving and being
I refuse to passed this down to the next generation
of woman who come after me
Iβm here to take up space, roar like a lioness
and passed down a new legacy of self love
that took me 41 years to learn
I wrote this poem in June of 2024.

my body feels like a rundown shack
that’s crumbling down slowly
I canβt get up in the morning
without my knee or hip
bitching and moaning
without me groaning in pain
and mumbling to myself
βOmg, another stupid dayβ
and cursing my genetics
that make me watch everything
I eat
and again I wonder
am I paying a karmic debt
for my colonizer ancestors

Out of the saddest minds
Comes the greatest creativity
I wonder why that is–
Is it because there are
No boundaries set in our minds?
Is it because
We live 100 lives
In 1 lifetime?
Is it because we are easily
Inspired by devastation and loss?
It is because pain and sadness
Flows out of us
More easily than others