I wrote this in September of 2019 after I read somewhere about some politician making fun of AOC for doing the “Latina Thing”. It annoyed the fuck out of me.
Edit: I revised this poem heavily in 2025 when I performed it in open mic. Here’s a link to that performance
what I think of the haters
make fun of our accents,make fun of our names- call us feisty, caliente, spicy. too loud, too sexy try to bully us into silence try to put us down with racist and ignorant insults try to stereotype us- try to make us feel less than try to kill us- but understand that we’re here to stay, and we’re not letting anyone get in our way don’t you know that we’re descendents of Mayan, Aztec, and Incan Kings and Queens and survival and resilience is embedded in our DNA y estamos aquí para quedarnos para siempre
he came for my people followed the rhetoric of our hate fueled president men, women, children killed in cold blood because they were the wrong race, the wrong color spoke the wrong language he came for “US” the so-called invaders him at just 21 years old filled with hatred from head to toe brainwashed by white supremacy twenty two lives taken as a consequence of a monstrous ideology twenty two families who will forever grieve and mourn the neverending sorrow loss of their loved ones taken too soon twenty two families with an infinity of questions and no real answers and as usual the useless thoughts and prayers come, and the law makers are the worst, making empty promises to fight this American epidemic but after a few days, they will forget like everyone else it’s no longer a question of why this happened tt’s become a question of when will be the next time
This is a poem I wrote in July. I was angry when I wrote it. Lol.
me on the 4th of July with my kiddo
celebrating a country that rips babies apart from their parents and takes away rights from the marginalized and makes anyone who’s not white and christian feel unwelcome feels like the cruelest irony it’s celebrating genocide, racism, prejudice, xenophobia, and white supremacy it’s 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 “all” is really white, christian and male so I’m passing on this year’s 4th of July celebrations because except for a small portion of Americans no one can claim true freedom or independence in this American Land
Check your privilege at the door every single white person who comes asking for my opinion I can’t be your agreeable POC anymore
Check your privilege at the door I’m not the voice for my community with you, certain topics I can’t explore don’t use me as another learning opportunity
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 don’t come true and the reality of America was filled with a hardness that even 35 years later I’m still processing indentured servitude, exploitation, depression, addiction,racism, mental illness were just a few side effects of going for the American dream
She’s an American I’m an immigrant She loves Trump I’m a borderline socialist She believes in money and brand names I believe in love and poetry Born from the same womb But living in different worlds She’s upper middle class I’m working class She’s latina when it suits her I’m latina every single day She’s the definition of assimilation I get called out by HR for being too Peruvian She’s the American Dream And I’m the immigrant
so American, I walk around with ketchup on my face
el tio Julio always spoke English to us, the kids didn’t matter who we were with or where we were I think he was an advocate of assimilation at an early age I think he wanted all of us to have a fighting chance in our adopted homeland perhaps this was an act of kindness on his part he knew that in order to survive in the USA we had to leave behind the part that made us seen as a foreigner and become as American as possible
are we going in time with our lack of rights with prejudices more overt- this is suppose to be a first world country and yet no one is safe sending my child to school i pray he’ll come back in one piece going to work I hope a mentally ill or disgruntled employee doesn’t walk in with revenge in his mind and a gun in his hand and i’m even afraid of sex birth control isn’t fool proof and I’d be forced to carry an oops are we going to back in time or is this the new America?
apathetic voter
full of apathy-i no longer have the faith and hope in government I once had i’m starting to think that renouncing my homeland was a waste to become an American thinking my vote counted for something, that it meant something aside from the ease of traveling my situation is still the same a working class reality where I’m still struggling a high functioning mental case doing her best to survive in a country that thrives on capitalism
polls
must I go to the polls and vote? everyone tells me I must to maintain my rights and for my future but lately I feel apathetic about it all- feeling I’ve never made a difference feeling like it’s so much bullshit but since I’ve heard Nazi sympathizers are in this race and I’m an other I”m forced to go to the stupid polls for mine and my loved ones survival
these poems are from 2022 and I’m more disillusioned than ever with the government. I’ve always leaned towards being a liberal/democrat and while I’ll still go out there and vote for whatever is deemed the “lesser evil”, I absolutely hate that we don’t have a third option that’s way more humane. And for anyone who thinks, “well, you should go back to your country”, at this point, I am working on having that as an option in the near future. Going back to Peru last year and this year has given me a new perspective about everything my parents gave up to immigrate to this country and it’s overwhelming because it was a lot. While I understand their reasons and while Peru does not have the most stable government either, the quality of life there seems better in a lot of ways. Who knows what will happen next year with the elections but I’m making sure my kids have their passports and I keep my connections with family and friends in Peru.
another 4 years of trump and who knows if America will still be standing if anyone who’s not male or white will still have rights another 4 years of trump and I see a future of fascism and dictatorship and U.S born citizens being sent back to their parent’s country of origin another 4 years of trump and I’m not sure I’ll still be alive or at very least still maintain a semblance of my sanity
to see my american dream I just need to step into my backyard and look at my holy trinity who call me mom they’re the ones I try to better myself for they’re the one who make my immigrant existence worth living for they’re my american dream wrapped up in burps, dark humor and love
july, july, july it’s the month where I lose my mind the heat gets to me and turns up the BSC in me you won’t find me sweet and eager to please in July you won’t find me full of ruffles and flowery phrases in poetry you’ll find me being a ball of immigrant rage and fury you’ll find me a woman who’s had enough of the American dream bullshit and ready to roar and scream out everything wrong with this country
