
Whatβs a song lyric that has stuck with you forever?
“Cut people like tags on my clothing”
π₯Ήππππ₯³

Whatβs a song lyric that has stuck with you forever?
“Cut people like tags on my clothing”
π₯Ήππππ₯³
I wrote this poem in July of 2022.

Kam Highway would see many changes in our family
three teenagers in one house, our parents were saints
at first we lived in abject poverty
trying to find change in the secondhand couch
for ramen or popcorn chicken or anything
to put food in our tummies
this apartment saw the awkwardness of my adolescence
saw my brother almost fall into the wrong crowd
saw my sister fall in and out of love
until she finally landed her first husband next door
and we had a pizzeria next door and also the interesting neighbors
like the marine next door who beat his unfaithful wife
or Tipper the stripper who was in a toxic relationship with the landlordβs son
their song was Kiss and Say Goodbye by the Manhattans
and the fun thanksgivings with all of the neighbors
I wrote this poem in July of 2022.

I was supposed to have been born in Cuzco
but drama kept me away until I was two
cusco saw me walk for the first time
cusco saw me blossom with the attention and affection
of my family and everyone else
I learned to be happy with the new freedom my legs gave me
but one day that changed when I was four
when the baby sitter hurt me -hurt me for being spoiled
hurt me for having la tez clara
and she gave me a phobia of water
and my resilience created an imaginary friend Calinchia
to help me face and process what happened to me
and eventually blocked my trauma
This is a poem I wrote in July. I was angry when I wrote it. Lol.

celebrating a country that rips babies apart from their parents
and takes away rights from the marginalized
and makes anyone whoβs not white and christian feel unwelcome
feels like the cruelest irony
itβs celebrating genocide, racism, prejudice, xenophobia, and white supremacy
itβs celebrating everything atrocious and wrong about this country
it almost feels like a personal violation of my beliefs
to celebrate the hypocrisy of this country
founded on genocide and slavery
who claims liberty and justice for all
but βallβ is really white, christian and male
so Iβm passing on this yearβs 4th of July celebrations
because except for a small portion of Americans
no one can claim true freedom
or independence in this American Land
I wrote this poem in July of 2025.

one day the weight of this burden I carry wonβt feel so heavy
and it wonβt be so tough to exist in a country that wants to exterminate
people like me or my family,
one day this nightmare will be over and the hypervigilance Iβm living
will cease to exist
one day will come unexpectedly and Iβll find my way back to safety
and security
I wrote this poem in June of 2025.

When Iβm 54, I want some things to stay the same and others to change
I want to love freely unafraid and unashamed and without apologies
without the anxiety I have right now that one day heβll leave
I want to have the same creative energy that motivates me,
and continue to share mine and my familyβs stories
that will continually be seen and make me succeed
I want to not worry so much if itβs a matter of when this epidemic
of violence and madness reaches someone in my family
or live with the fear one of my loved ones will be detained
I want to have hope for the future of my children and descendents
that when I leave this earth things will be better for them
because I did the work so they didnβt suffer and can enjoy life a bit more
also , I want to be filled with financial stability where Iβm not doing financial gymnastics
to pay my bills on time and an no longer a slave to my debt
but mostly when Iβm 54, I want to have evolved as a healer
who continues to share her light in this world as a poet, writer, and storyteller
I wrote this poem in June of 2022.

Iβm a complete disaster when it comes to love, well, romantic love
but Iβm great at other kinds of love
Loving my children, adoring my friends, worshiping my parents
and of course filling myself with self love
but still I wonder if somewhere in this big wide world
exist an almost ideal lover
whoβll bring out my best and love me at my worse
who wonβt put me on a pedestal
and doesnβt scare easily and leave
when he sees all of me
I wrote this poem in June of 2022.

Is this a new kind of avoidance?
Blocking and escaping any new love possibility-
or maybe I finally understand
How much I value my solitude
Maybe Iβm finally enjoying an inner peace and calm
that comes with being alone
Maybe Iβve finally learned I really am enough on my own
I wrote this poem in June of 2025.

dating a soldier in not for the weak in these modern time
especially now with a civil war and WW3 on the horizon
our new love story could be cut short if heβs deployed
Things can get complicated and messy
if end up dehumanizing or ripping apart families like mine
because its his job
it makes me wonder if we were foolish in the throwing caution
to the wind and getting into a relationship
it makes me wonder if we have any chance of working out
I wrote this poem in June of 2025.

compassion and hope appear in a phone call from my prima
right before I give in to my hate and anger
right before I let my rage control me and make it into a weapon
of destruction
she reminds me that this is not who I am and to choose forgiveness
and empathy for those who hurts us for they donβt know what they do
and I wonder if it was an intervention from God, the universe,
reminding me that revenge and the wrath of my anger is not the answer
and instead I should look to love and wisdom passed down from my ancestors
for the confusion and frustration turned into rage that lies within me
escribΓ este poema en junio de 2022.

Te dije que no estaba preparada
pero no me quisistes escuchar
Y insististe, insististe que yo era la ΓΊnica para ti
que tu me amabas
nunca me preguntastes sobre mi comodidad
nunca me preguntaste si estaba bien
mandarme piropos y fotos sensuales
Y cuando te pedΓ respecto a mi persona
me acusaste de ser otra loca mΓ‘s
I wrote this poem in June of 2025.

we get up and live our daily lives, work, go to school, show up to jury duty
while the new regime is on a warpath to destroy the lives of the most vulnerable
of the marginalized, of those who are not white, cis, and male
we get and continue to live as if the American Gestapo isnβt ripping families apart
and as if city after city isnβt been torn apart and turned into a warzone
I wrote this poem in June of 2025.

not feeling romantic lately as my community is torn apart
and cruelty is served to them by this administration with no end date
as I watch Americaβs Gestapo treat my people as worse than animals
but somehow Iβm suppose to block this all out
and reply to your sext about all the ways I want you
to ravage me
I wrote this poem in June of 2022.

put me on a pedestal and watch how quickly I fall
for saying no to you
For standing up for myself
for making myself heard
Youβll cry foul and wonder, where did my dream girl go?
but donβt you see-
I wasnβt made for altars and pedestals
I was made for thrones
A throne where I know my worth
A throne where Iβm valued
A throne where Iβm appreciated as a whole person
and not just seen as an object as affection and masturbation
So quit seeing me as a saint or angel
and understand Iβm a chaotic queen


What is something you wish you could tell your 20-year-old self?

