I wrote this poem in July of 2024.

I wash my hands of all my past sins
my wrongs never defined me
It was a toxic narrative I swallowed whole
when I was addicted to suffering
and being a martyr
I wrote this silly 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 January of 2024.

In bridging the gaps of my story that have remained unresolved
every story, every poem leads to pieces of healing and closure
Iβve been desperately search for since I can remember
Whatever my child self , my teenage self couldnβt voice back then
My middle age self brings to the surface
and while at times itβs difficult and terrifying
itβs needed in the process of healing and evolving
I wrote this poem in December of 2023.

the future of me is not written yet
I have to understand that
all I can do is write for her
who will still question her existence
or why things happened the way they did
or what the fuck happened to her
I know myself too well
it doesnβt matter how far Iβm in my self discovery journey
Iβll always have questions
Its my insatiable curiosity
I can only hope that the future me has leaned into self love
More than ever before and still understands
she and her kids are her top priorities
Anyone else is expendable in her little universe of love
I wrote this poem in December of 2023.

I swipe and swipe on anyone who looks appetizing,
on anyone who looks interesting
and then the messages swarm in-
I must be honey to the bees who buzz and buzz around me
and Iβm not impressed
Hey, beautiful says the guy with his catch of day
in his profile pic –
Are you DTF? Says the zoomer almost young enough
to be my son-ew-blocked
insert a pretentious line with a quote
From a Wallace Stevens poem , it’s the Genxer
whoβs gross-ethically non monogamous-
I must not have been paying attention
while I was swiping
And the messages keep coming
And Iβm overwhelmed by the amount of them
and underwhelmed by quality of them
and Iβm nauseated and want to vomit
at the thought of giving any of these men
an ounce of my energy
maybe a past version of me
would have given them a chance
but this new and empowered version of me
Nah, none of them seem worthy
so I deactivate my profile
and uninstall the app
Understand Iβm too evolved to find love online
and put my trust in the universe that one day
The right guy will find me
and I wonβt even have to try
and until that time comes,
Iβll keep being an independent Peruvian Queen
Focusing on myself and my kids
without any mediocre energy
trying to intervene
I wrote this poem in December of 2023.

Itβs time to say goodbye to the notion of love
I know Iβve said this more times than I can count
but this time, I really mean it
lately, I prefer my life of solitude
the one where Iβm my own hero, my own savior
And I donβt wait for anyone to validate my worth
itβs so calm, itβs so peaceful
itβs actually bullshit
the romantic girl in me canβt be cured
I wrote this poem in December of 2023.

the breakup was always a larger than life event in my mind
because of the catastrophic pain it caused
because it was someone I thought could be my forever
so when he gave me the electronic pink slip
I used it as a catalyst for change
I broke away with my idea of what made me attractive
and accessible to men, andΒ instead, I focused on what made me feel good about myself
and learned to accept myself as the complicated and crazy
woman that I am
I finally understood I was always a Queen
Underneath layers of princess skin
Armed myself with poetry and confidence
that breakup changed me like previous breakups did
however, this one was the key to the transformation
I needed to become the woman I was always meant to be
I wrote this poem in December of 2023.

I listen to the universe without a hint of defiance
I listen carefully and with intention
to understand my next blessing
and the message is, continue to be vulnerable
with the world
youβre leaving a blueprint for the next one
keep leaning into your craziest and most authentic self
thereβs someone somewhere whoβs paying attention
and may be falling in love with you one poem at a time
but too scared to make a confession
I wrote this poem in December of 2023.

me and my ex drive towards the moon in silence
accepting we were always meant to be friends
no longer harboring resentment about our failed story of romance
Focusing on the long road ahead of us
Divorced and raising kids in a world full of oxymorons,
in a world that will try to make them fit
into unrealistic expectations of what it means to be human
me and my ex drive towards the moon in silence
putting away our differences and any conflicts
And putting our childrensβ best interest first
understanding theyβre the best thing
to come out of the failure of us
I wrote this poem in December of 2023.

even the spambot body shames me
and I hate my body all over again
wanting to eviscerate that pudge
thatβs been there since after my first son
hiding the flappy wings of my upper arms
wondering why God gave me my stupid curves
Iβm constantly trying to hide
and every excess of skin I see in the mirror
That makes me wish Iβd cease to exist
why canβt I be a skinny white girl?
instead of this pudgy mess of a woman
with body dysmorphia
who still uses the scale to determine
her WORTH
I wrote this poem in December of 2023.

I have a bad habit of making poetry out of almost anything
itβs annoying, itβs cringe, and downright embarrassing at times
how shameless I can be
it teethers between the line of genius and insanity
This monster of creativity of mine
from trauma to my kids to childhood memories
To the latest villain in my story to office supplies
To my dreams to the trees to the clouds
To my kroger apron to energy drinks
To that ex from my 20s
No one and nothing is saved from being used
as a fountain of inspiration for my creativity
Sometimes itβs a curse, sometimes itβs a blessing
Most of the time, itβs just downright entertaining
I wrote this poem in December of 2023.

in my island of solitude, I drift further
and further away from romantic love
when Iβve tried to invite others to my island
they always left, and it drove me into hysterics
making a catastrophic emotional mess of me
so now I float alone on my island of solitude
and have erected walls of strength and confidence around it
I will not allow another soul to break them down
only to later leave on a whim, leaving me in pieces once again
I wrote this poem in November of 2023.

abuela Gaby sends me hints that she wants her story to be told
but I can barely remember her
she tells me to still try with the bits I have
I ask her for patience
I want to get it right, I want to do her story justice
she tells me, βhemos vivido vidas paralelasβ
las palabras te vendrΓ‘n fΓ‘cilmente prontoβ
and adds, βes como vas a sanar, es como
empiezas a entenderteβ
and I donβt understand what it means,
I donβt understand her interest in me now
and how I became a messenger of her story,
βni siquiera pensΓ© que me querΓas Abuela,
you always pulled my hairβ
and she replies,
βes que era duro ver nacer y crecer a alguien
que se parecΓa tanto a mi, me traΓa
demasiados sentimientos encontrados,
porque sabΓa que tu espiritu seria
difΓcil de dominarβ
and while I try my best to comprehend
what she tells me –
itβs hard to wrap my head around her message
and all of the conflicting stories about her
from my family
so Iβm going to make it a point
to find out her story through her letters
and pictures-
abuela, I want to do your story justice
I canβt rush through this
yours is one of the most important stories
Iβll share in my lifetime
I wrote this poem in November of 2022.

my craving for love has brought me to celestial heights of heaven
and the rock bottom of hell
at 40,I finally learned I suffered from the worst affliction
–a love addiction–
and time after time it tore me down
something had to change, something had to give
or else Iβd end up jumping off a cliff
so I gave up love for a while
Until I could understand why it made me crazy
Until I knew how to not make myself a victim
in every single one of my love stories
I wrote this poem in November of 2023.

I had to give up a lot of fun things in my life
to get to integration
an alcohol dependency, a shopping addiction,
Relationships and sex-
and the last thing was energy drinks
This was all for me to become the mom my kids
always deserved
it was needed for me to meet my higher self
who makes decisions with compassion and love
Instead of out of ego
It was needed for me to start living
in the most authentic way possible
and while I could dwell on all
of the fun things I lost
I now look at it as a blessing needed for clarity
and to make space for this new version of me
who no longer hides her jagged edges
for the comfort of others
Who loves who she is and no longer
Wants to be anyone else
Who finds peace in solitude
and is no longer scared of it
my integration of self costs me many things
I was addicted to
but it was worth it for the woman I am today
for the beautiful life Iβm currently living