Avoid complaining
Try smiling at a stranger
Express gratitude
Affirmation
You are powerful
Your destiny within reach
Let go of your fears
Takeaway
Reality is richer
than fiction
I found the dress
I was raped in
and didn’t know
what to do with it.
I haven’t for years
You know the dress too,
Marilyn Monroe’s iconic
white dress
cooling herself
over a subway grate.
It happened on a Halloween
I was her
he was pimp
reality, richer than fiction.
The first poem
I ever wrote
was titled, “Dirty White”
written at 12
about a woman
raped
feeling dirty
in a dress
on her wedding day,
foreshadowing my own
event.
I’ve contemplated,
burning it
as if the fire
could burn away the memory,
I’ve thought about
giving it away
but fearful that
it will be someone else’s
misfortune.
I’ve thought about
washing and wearing it
a bizarre testament
that I’ve healed
then dread washes over me
like unexpected rain
that it will happen again.
Marilyn and I are bonded
insight into
a polarizing figure
the sadness behind her eyes
the madness that consumed her
but shines effortlessly on screen
Impossible to look away from
her reality greater than fiction.
I’ve thought about
my experiences
Trying to justify
Find reasoning
Accepted that I’m given what
I can handle.
My poetic purpose interpreting
reality richer than fiction.
Poetry performance
Hello everyone,
You can check out my performance yesterday at Word Up bookstore for the Bottoms Up Social open mic. Copies of my book are available for purchase now at Word Up bookstore
Shallow/depths
I wish I could
be seen
inside
out
Maybe it’d be easier
to see the complexities
you would see
how much
I’m covered
in cobwebs
commonly known
as anxiety.
I have scars
inside
and out
You’d see
jagged wounds
that never properly
healed.
The outside is scarred
by neurosis,
I compulsively
pick
at anything
that doesn’t belong.
I scratch off scabs
I hate
the way they feel
and look,
rough
I pick
searching for new skin
to be seen.
I force myself
to embrace
my bare face
my version
of aversion therapy.
Last week
I wore my armor,
make up
But when I glazed
in the mirror
I didn’t recognize myself
I love my ninja turtle shirt
just as much as my maxi dress
love flip flops
just as much as stilettos
Neither defines me.
My imperfections
are magnified
in my eyes
and it’s always relative
you never appreciate
the present enough
till it’s the future
If I’m inside
out
you’ll see my fat
just hanging
in all it’s flabby
glory
not hidden
under black clothing
or
forgiving fabrics.
If only you’d see me
my muscle tendons
stringy like red yarn
instead of my
involuntary vanilla complexion,
my genes decided to arbitrarily
adhere to European
standards of beauty
without my permission
I’ve heard confessions
admiring my Casper complexion
“Todo te queda bien con tu piel”
Everything looks good with your
skin tone
admissions of colonized mentalities
“You don’t look Peruvian”
as if they had seen
all the millions of us
because when I walked around
in Lima
I saw a bunch of my clones,
my Peruvian people recognized
me as their own.
“You’re too pretty to be Peruvian”
Instantly degrading
devaluing Indigenous
and African beauty
which is my real make up
I’m sure my bones
have etched on them
the entire Andes mountain
range
and my heart
beats to the rhythm of el cajon.
I wish you could see me
as I see you
inside,out
all it takes
is a look of the eyes
The cliche holds true
The glaze of envy
that for your own sake
I hope is temporary
the narrow minded
the angry glint
of ignorance
but
I’m comforted when I meet
kindness
compassion
and general goodness.
I wish I was inside out
see my soul
the color it is
I’ve always been fond of pink
maybe the soul is the aura
of the heart
That’s the part of me
I really wish you could see
how vulnerable
and sensitive
it beats.
Poetry Book Review
Hello fellow bloggers,
I’d like to take a small departure from my regular poetry writing and review my friend Kevin Marquez’s book “Towards the Question Mark” available on Amazon.com
Towards the Question Mark provides a poetic insight as to what it is like growing up in New York City. The poetic narrator takes the reader on a journey through family strife, of loves born and lost. As a reader, you find yourself rooting this poetic narrator on. Kevin uses a variety of poetic forms to convey different aspects of a native New Yorker’s life.
There are some academics that question the legitimacy of Spanglish in literary works, Kevin’s use of Spanglish ,however, in selected poems represent the voice of this generation of Latino writers. I invite you all to join this writer’s journey. It provides a window to one man’s trial and tribulations with the Big Apple as the setting.
Use the link below to purchase a copy.
http://tinyurl.com/towardsthequestionmark
Happy reading and writing everyone!
To my future daughter
I love you
and I hope
I showed
or spoke
those words to you
every day.
I’m 27 borderline 28
and you’re nowhere
on the horizon
Right now
I’ve been working
making the world
a little better
before you arrive
I know
I’ll have called
you a leader
more than
princess
You will play more
than house
unless it involves
how to build that
house.
You will be beautiful
from the inside
out
Strength is our legacy
You come from your
great great abuela Matilde
who was a feminist
before the term
even existed.
you come from
Aurora y Ortencia
Fairy tale abuelas
known for their love
Love is my superpower
and will be yours too
Love, to understand
love, to have patience
love so you can forgive
love because it’s the closest
thing to magic.
You come from your
bisabuela Laura
A single mother
in 1950s Peru
selling tamales to survive.
She cooked from the heart
and had magical pots
that made enough food
for everyone.
you come from your
bisabuela Angela
whose hips gave birth
to 12 children
Patient
Making all of their clothes
Passed early on
but immortalized
by naming almost every female
after her.
you come from your abuela
Angela
with unparalleled work ethnic
never greedy
taught me how to be giving
because there’s always someone
in a worse position
You also come from me,
when life hands me
tough at bats
I always swing for the fences
when you find yourself
in difficult positions
pause
be grateful
Take it as a compliment from God
because we are only given
what we can handle.
I’m 27 borderline 28
and I’m learning every day
how to be better
how to take the high road
and not stray.
I’ll always be in your corner
gently guiding
but I will tell you
when you’re wrong.
I will not judge your mistakes
because I love you already.
I think about the day
we finally meet
and hold you.
I aspire to be your role model
but you will have a great destiny
be my greatest legacy
I love you
and I don’t even know you
Mi hija,
live life fearlessly
don’t be intimated by
darkness
or heartbreaks
because you’re blessed
by God’s grace.
