I wrote this poem in May of 2024.

brown eyes
scorpio energy
takes my hand
Iβm in trouble
warm rush of emotions
Unsurvivable

I wanted you but
God wanted you more
Perhaps you were an angel
not meant for earth
Perhaps you were a hard a lesson
in grief and loss
That I needed to learn
A lesson that I should never take
love and hope for grant
No matter how brief the stay is
A lesson that your heart
can break within a span
of a few minutes
A lesson in surviving
what you think is unsurvivable
I wrote this poem in May of 2024.

never understood why you took us with you
maybe it was to assuage your guilt
maybe it was say you really did nice things
for me and my brother
inviting us to an all day road trip to Tijuana
in your air conditioned Blazer
silent as mice and on our best behavior
to not disturb you, your husband and your son
it was all so strange
the only thing I can remember
was the messiest hamburgers
we needed a hundred napkins to eat
and the picture with the donkey
maybe you were kind and graceful
with us at times
but all of that has been lost with the trauma
you incurred on us Iβve blocked out
and 34 years later in my middle age
sitting in my hot car in between jobs
I still donβt understand why you took
us with you
I wrote this poem in May of 2024.

at 9, Mariah Carey taught me to look pretty
even as Iβm suffering, even as Iβm cast aside
for someone else
even as Iβm crying and dying from grief
at 9, Mariah Carey taught me about
all of the lovely and terrible things
that come with falling in love
at 9, Mariah Carey gave me lessons
about life and love
Iβve carried into my middle age
Virus

Loving you feels like a virus
Iβll never recover from
I lie awake at night
and thoughts of you infect me
I keep saying I want to be cured
of your love disease
that travels from my body
and into my mind
Iβve tried to find the cure
in someone else
But for some reason
your virus is resistant
It wonβt go away
no matter what I do
I try hard to stay away
but it’s no use
The virus that is your love
is incurable
Virus
I wrote this poem in May of 2024.

shadows of summerβs past came and haunted me
in dreams, in my most intrusive of thoughts
every summer tragedy comes to the surface
in spring
not allowing me to enjoy the may flowers
that are blooming
not allowing the visual poetry of spring
happening right in front of me
panic attacks, crying spells, dissociative episodes
bursts of anxiety and nightmares
that deprive me of sleep, leaving me in a haze
of despair followed by depression
and I end up in a fog of exhaustion I canβt
seem to get rid of
I wrote this poem in April of 2024.

Ostracized, alienated, and abandoned for being too odd, too much
cried a million tears over the same story
too stubborn to learn from the tragic lessons sent from the universe
naively believed this one will complete me, this one will save me
it wasnβt until my middle age, I had a great catharsis and said
βOH SHIT, I AM ENOUGH!β
I let go of my damsel in distress story
wrote a new story of empowerment and love within
the pages of my journal
Wrote and wrote like a madwoman until I found peace
and closure from anything that traumatized me
come to the conclusion
the only hero I ever needed was the woman in the mirror
I wrote this poem in April of 2024.

he can say anything because of his pretty privilege
I donβt know a woman alive who wouldnβt sleep with him
6β7, blonde hair, blue eyed norse God with silly rhymes
Iβd be his working class Peruvian version of Sofia Vergara
Get rid of my empowered Incan Goddess persona
and become sweet and submissive just for him
get wrapped up figuratively and literally in gravy magic


I wrote this poem in April of 2024.

I hold onto my should haves for old times sake
to inspire the poet out of me
should have hugged him a few moments longer
the other night so heβd get a hint of how I felt
should have broken up with him in spring
after that email
should have cut ties with him in the summer
the first time he kicked me out of his apartment
should have divorced him the winter
after I tried to die
should have, should have, should have
so many of them could have prevented
some emotional disasters, earthquakes
that broke my core
but then again, should haves have inspired
1001 poems and stories in my tome of lust and love
I wrote this poem in April of 2024.

Iβm lead to a higher version of myself after integration
itβs uncomfortable and I blush red in this latest transformation
annoyed and hate everything I write as most of it
takes a romantic undertone
I started to miss the woman-scorned and empowered
who decimated her exes
the one who came up with the clever phrase
electronic pink slip
but that woman is slipping away from me
transforming into a woman who wears her heart
on her sleeve with her poetry
transforming into a woman whoβs grown bored
of hating her exes
and instead wants to be on friendly terms with them
transforming into a woman who understands
and accepts she not defined by her trauma or a diagnosis
and instead should lean into the magic of love
that lurks inside of her
I wrote this poem in April of 2024.

Sometimes, I wish I could go back to being a princess
go back to being a damsel in distress
needing to be saved, maybe then I wouldnβt be so lonely
but then I think of the sacrifices have to make
to keep up that persona
and every time itβs costs me my dignity and sanity
every time Iβve ended up almost committed in the psych ward
so for mine and my kids sake
Iβve burned my dreams of becoming a princess again
and keep on being the powerful and independent queen I am
living life according to my terms, being selective
who I give my lips and hips to
and understanding that to become a princess again
Would be a demotion to my identity
I wrote this poem in April of 2024.

thereβs a song I listen to when I know Iβm truly fucked
when I know I have feelings for someone
when I get that sinking wave of romance in my gut
that makes me want to vomit and swim
in an ocean of anxiety
and like the sentimental poet that I am
I wonβt tell you what that song is
but Iβll give you a hint
itβs the cover of a 70βs love song
by Will to the Power
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