Poet
I write poems about being Latinx, about living life with traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and about feeling magic and music in my body. I also write about love, grief, queerness, time travel, and the different versions of ourselves that we carry inside us.
Awards
2022: Voices de la Luna Poetry Contest,
3rd place, “Amarillo”
2023: Ekphrastic Poetry Contest,
“Donations Here / Donaciones Aquí / Thanx!!”
2023: Voices de la Luna Poetry Contest,
3rd place, “Sternum”
2023: Voices de la Luna Poetry Contest,
1st place, “The Whole Thing About
Unblinking Intuition”
Highlights
Poem:
This Is The Year
I Finally Give a Shit
About Bluebonnets
I.
Bluebonnets everywhere, y’all.
Bluebonnets on calendars, in picture books, strewn all over highways,
center stage in people’s profile pictures online.
Most of my tejana life, I have been immune to fields of
lupinus texensis. They have always been so connected to mitologías
de cowbois quesque chingones. I would think,
“Ay tu. Cálmate already.”
But this year– I mean,
dammit. I am learning that
it takes more than light, water and breath
to make life. It takes our attunement
to the source, too.
II.
If, on a warm afternoon, I see a single bluebonnet in someone’s front yard, her chin to the clouds, I see a miracle. I see resilience. I see just a bit of attitude. I see the elders who have long taken care of the land.
With my eyes on Bluebonnet Baby, I draw infinity on my heart with my finger and I tell her, “Tú dale, mija. The medicine is inside you. No te dejes. This is your home, too. Tu puedes. Breathe for me. I’m breathing for you. Lean into me. I’m leaning into you. Live for me. I’ll be living for you soon.”