paper squares

I saw my life before me

On the table.

A flat, white square,

A piece of paper.

I saw his hands,

Holding mine.

Picking up my life,

Folding, shaping it

In new ways.

His hands before me

On the table.

Inventors, builders

Making beautiful.

Would you fold me

Into a bird?

Do you know what would happen

If you did?

If I were a bird,
I could fly away from the cold-

With wings and no hands to hurt
Or to hold.

You see,
I've seen my life before me

Once before-
A perfect paper square.

With one hand
I picked it up,

While the other held scissors

And cut.

And there I was,

In pieces,

My own doing.

Torn and full of holes-

Trying to be like snow.

Oh God,

I'm giving

My life to you.

I lay it down before you

On the table.

A flat, white square

For a great inventor.

You hold my hand

Like he does,

But love me

More completely.

You've seen the snowflake

And remade me.

Folding, shaping tenderly,

Teaching patience,

The art of trusting-
The art of taking

Our hands off the table.

We're held in yours,
Perfect paper squares-
White as snow
And almost birds.

the light gets in

Inspired by "The Fools Who Dream" from La la Land

-

Freezing river.
Flicker and flame.
Her life was about feeling in extremes.

Feeling everything
Or nothing at all.
Skies with no ceilings.
Despair with no floor.

Can you have one without the other?
Can you have art without the embers?

-

She said a bit of madness is key

So I looked through her kaleidoscope
For the new colors I could see.
The colors gave me hope
That my madness had meaning.

I held on tightly to the refrain:
"Forget your perfect offering,
There's a crack, a crack in everything.
That's how the light gets in."

-

It shines through our weakness
And that's why they need us,
The painters, the poets.
The cracked and the broken.

Vessels of light
In our imperfection.

And for the teenage girl trying-
to be understood,
to capture a feeling,
to figure out if her imperfect self
Is worth anything-
That message is powerful.

-

But what happens
When we start to glorify the crack?
To celebrate brokenness
Rather than the light that's supposed to pierce it?

Romanticizing rubble,
Finding glory in shame.
Freezing in the river,
The flicker and flame.
Forgetting His perfect offering.

I've lived there too long,
Loving darkness and hating light
Thinking pain is beautiful-
That I'm only worth living if I hate my life.

-

Our cracks are not the hero here.
The light is, and it's the light we fear.
We know we're broken
And we want to hold on to it.
Believing I’m beautiful
Because I’m imperfect.
Because that’s easier.

Darkness is the absense of light.
But now the light is here.

“There’s a crack, a crack in everything.
That’s how the light gets in.”
But He didn't come in
To leave us like this.

diamond poem

Sun

Warm, bright,

Shining, Glowing, Burning,

Dawn, day, dusk, night,

Setting, sleeping, gleaming,

Cold, silver,

Stars

traveling

Sometimes waking is unwelcome

And the morning yearns for sleep.

In solitude I turn to stone

And sigh although I'm free.

What's to stop me, in my freedom,

From unraveling?

I find alone I'm most at home,

Still, the soul craves traveling.

mountains

The city night is starless
As, lying here upon my bed,
I talk to myself and imagine
That I'm talking to a friend.

But my friends are far away.
I only see them through a screen
Or in the pictures that you gave to me
Before I had to leave.

The sky is dark, my vision dim,
But I'll make the most of the view
As I climb this mountain range
Of being alone and in love with you.

For countless mountains surround this city
Where the stars refuse to shine.
They are mountains where I love you more
For being missed and being mine.

las manos de Guayasamín

¿Cómo puedo contar las hazañas         How can I tell the deeds
De las manos de Guayasamín?            Of the hands of Guayasamin?
Las que pintaron las montañas             Those that painted the mountains
De Quito, sentado en su jardín.            Of Quito, seated in his garden.

Bajo el árbol de la vida,                        Under the tree of life,
Pintaron la luz y la oscuridad,               They painted light and darkness,
La muerte y la ternura,                          Death and tenderness,
La corrupción y la bondad.                   Corruption and goodness.

En escenas de la guerra                         In scenes of war
Veo manos retorcidas en dolor.             I see hands twisted in pain.
Blanco, negro, gris, y rojo-                   White, black, grey, and red-
Se expresa angustia por color.               Anguish is expressed through color.

En las manos de la madre                      In the hands of the mother
Abrazando a su hija                               Embracing her daughter
Veo amor en lugar de sangre-                I see love in place of blood
La defensa de la vida.                            The defense of life.

“Ave blanca volando” mía,                    My “flying white bird”
Cuando las manos convierten en alas,   When your hands turn into wings,
Ojalá que algún día                                 I hope that one day
Puedas ver la paz que esperas                You can see the peace that you hope for.

el arte de sorprender

Mi profesora me dijo                                My teacher told me
"Sorpréndame con un poema."                "Surprise me with a poem,"
Y ahora me encuentro                               And now I find myself
En la situación de Nana.                           In Nana's situation.

La que intentó sorprender                        The one who tried to surprise
A la acallada Clara                                   The silenced Clara
Con apariciones de monstruos                 With appearances of monsters
Y bichos en la cama.                                And insects in the bed.

A poco tiempo Clara                                Very soon, Clara
No tenía miedo de nada                           Was not afraid of anything,
Porque se convirtieron en normal            Because all the knocks on the window
Todos los golpes en la ventana.               Became normal.

El arte de sorprender                                 The art of surprise
Es el arte de conocer                                  Is the art of knowing
Las expectativas de otras                           The expectations of others
Y, de repente, las romper.                          And suddenly breaking them.

¿Cómo puedo sorprender                         How can I surprise
A alguién que no conozco?                      Someone that I don't know?
Profesora mía, ¿Cómo puedo                   My teacher, how can I
Despertarte de tu silencio?                       Awaken you from your silence?

No sé si en tu vida                                     I don't know if in your life
Estás acostumbrada a los monstruos.        You are accustomed to monsters.
Tal vez sería un mayor choque                  Maybe a real instant of joy
Un instante real de gozo.                           Would be a greater shock.

Tienen poder de sorprender                       Both pain and beauty
Tanto el dolor como la belleza.                  Have power to surprise.
Te deseo una vida                                       I wish you a life
En la que es lo malo que es sorpresa.        In which the bad is a surprise.


basada en la novela "Casa de los Espíritus" por Isabel Allende
based on the novel "The House of the Spirits" by Isabel Allende

frog song

We were young,

Yellow and green as tree frogs.

Lime and lemon squeezed,

Bursting, bright.

We listened after the rain

And they sang- deep green.

Crickets, flies,

Moths and worms and night.

We felt the sun-
We grew up like trees.
Yellow and warm,
Tall and free.

Softly step
Into the shade.
When life gives you lemons
You make lemonade.

But what to do with limes?
I was afraid.

Then I danced with you
Beneath the trees,
With a backpack full of doubts
and a heart full of dreams.

Sticky and sweet
And starting to rain.
Did you know my dreams
Were lemonade?

But learning to love
Is like learning to paint.

Mix the colors of our lives
And make something new.
With yellow and green
And me and you.