



I wrote this poem in April of 2024.

my body keeps score even when I think I’m better
even though Iβve found closure and made peace
with most of my demons
my body keeps score on certain dates
and remembers unintentional trauma inflicted
and the great impact it had on me
great emotional earthquakes that shook
and broke the core of my soul
leading to breakdowns and breakthroughs
understanding and accepting who and whatβs
right for me and what isnβt






I wrote this poem in April of 2024.

ancestor, ancestor-
which alcohol goes best with making shitty life decisions
ancestors says, not the PBR, not the michelob ultra light, itβs too basic of an energy
for the kind of epic shitty life decisions you tend to make
donβt reach for the margarita wine either, too obvious, too much of a cliche
and you already have plenty of them in your poetry
Go for the Guiness six pack
make your shitty life decisions with some English class
since most of your terrible decisions tend to include some asshole
whose ancestors are colonizer Englishmen


I wrote this poem in April of 2024.

sultry July night at a pirate party
fiery red Dionysian hair, body made by Gods
caught his eye from a distance
he wanted her, he craved her, he wanted to fuck her
he approached her
right away she saw through his toxic fuck boi vibe
Said βno thanksβ
and introduced him to me
I was already 3 drinks in, mesmerized by his body
Covered in tattoos from head to toe, his boyish smile
felt an electric energy between us (or maybe that was
the buzz from my third margarita)
heβs the sexiest man Iβve ever seen, I WANT THIS BAD BOY!
within a few minutes, we assessed each other and flirted
he asked me for my phone number, giddy, I gave it to him
and that was the beginning of the end of me
and almost 6 years later, my friend still says,
βSorry, I introduced you to himβ


this poem is inspired by the 2007 poem “small”

canβt blend in with this privileged world
wrong age, wrong last name, wrong ethnicity
I stand destined for failure
on this institutions steps
as the pressure to succeeds hang around me
like a noose around my neck
and yet I still keep going
and show up every day
if only to teach my kids a lesson
in how to keep going when you want to quit
I wrote this poem in March of 2024.

for almost three years Iβve been waiting for the next guy to appear
as some kind of hero, as some kind of reward for all of my effort
Iβve put into myself and the life Iβve built
Subconsciously I did this
Even as I publicly roared about being empowered on my own
I still wanted someone to be my sanctuary to lay my love in
And I wrote, manifested, schemed, flirted
got obsessed with men were just meant to be friends
Thinking, gosh, if I hang on long enough, heβll come around
this might work out
but today I discovered the only hero for me
is the woman in the mirror
who still manages to get out of bed
even on the bad days when sheβs too tired to function
when sheβs exhausted by all of it
I wrote this poem in March of 2024.

last time I had my last first kiss
it was wasted on a middle age scorpio
I wore a cute summer dress with red lipstick
along with my feminine charm
I didnβt have to lay it on thick for him to desire me
for him to want to kiss me
he wouldβve fuck me I hadnβt been on my period
his hands roamed almost every inch of my body
as if it belong to him for the 5 minutes we made out
while I dissociated and pretended I was somewhere else
I was numb and devoid of feeling anything
Am I even a person?
He said things about how I was so hot and sexy
and how sad it was that couldnβt screw me
And I laughed flirtatiously following the script
Iβve had since I could remember
and I felt no desire or any pleasure
if anything I was repulsed
by him, by myself
hating how even at 40,
I was still pulling the same bullshit since I was 16
making myself an object of desire for me to play with
and then something snapped in me that day
a couple of hours after that date
I sent him a snap along with all the other 7 dudes
I was entertaining and keeping as options
the same message,
βIβm sorry, Iβm not in a place to date or even
to have men as friends, I wish you the bestβ
it was hard as I had always been addicted
to menβs attention and validation
but something told me it was time
to switch the narrative
even though I knew it would be lonely
escribΓ este poema en marzo de 2024.

era tiempo de convertimos en extraΓ±os y esta vez para siempre
No habΓa mΓ‘s vueltas que dar o mas capΓtulos de nuestra historia
que escribir
Aceptar que ya nunca mΓ‘s seremos fue el favor mΓ‘s grande que nos hicimos
Ojala que esta vez seamos extraΓ±os para siempre
porque siendo algo mΓ‘s siempre nos causa un daΓ±o y conflicto
interno
Ojala que esta vez seamos como el fin del cuento que mi papΓ‘ me contaba
cuando era niΓ±a,
βColorin colorado nuestro cuento se ha acabadoβ
I wrote this poem in March of 2024.

being with you was a form of self harm
it was another symptom of my mental illness
It was me living with my unhealed alcoholic daddy issues
it was the worst version of me
trying to find some kind of semblance of love
to fill the void with whatever, even if that love
looked toxic, brought out the worst in me,
berated and assaulted me
still stupidly I went back to you and accepted you
in my life over and over again
even with delusional daydreams in the back of my mind
that if I kept you in my life long enough
eventually youβd change and one day weβd get it right
but all you ever did was disappoint me over and over again
but this last undoing of us is the one
and good riddance for that
because at 43, iβm too fucking old to waste my time
on fuck bois who canβt show an ounce of respect
and dignity
this poem is inspired by the 2007 poem “fence”

for a while you were an a puzzle to me
always so mysterious
always so guarded
never talked about your past
even as I overshared my trauma
and while it got tiring
I still kept on trying to get you to open up
my mami didnβt raise a quitter
but nothing I did ever worked
you could never bring yourself
to be vulnerable