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lizhck
A queer Latinx poet in the Carolinas
Your fragile fears are endearing As they determine you are human. Your shivering skin is in Because it shows you are chilled to the bone. Your voice’s timbre does not have a noise For it is the sound of your subconscious. Your hand’s shakes are their own brand Of starlight, cells, and sweat.
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Jun 21, 2017
Jun 21, 2017 at 4:33 PM UTC
Frailty
It’s okay To think Beyond What seems possible The intangible Keeps us Moving
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Jun 21, 2017
Jun 21, 2017 at 4:32 PM UTC
Subconscious
I fix my tea before I dream The herbs swirl in my subconscious A ritual warm and full of steam I wake knowing, “I want this.” I read someone else’s words before I sleep Losing myself to a story A healthy escape that I’ll keep up To bide off darkness and worry. I wash my face before I slumber Washing away the day Tomorrow any anxiety I may encumber Must in the future stay. I pen my thoughts to the night’s sound Striking the ink to the rhythm of my thoughts Meanwhile fear and curiosity abound I must momentarily quell my haves and have nots.
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Jun 21, 2017
Jun 21, 2017 at 4:30 PM UTC
Ritual
Dismantle your convictions Break them beyond recognition Into the smallest parts imaginable For those fragments of atoms Build us up.
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Jun 21, 2017
Jun 21, 2017 at 4:26 PM UTC
Breaking, Building
Old clothes hang on my bones that Feel more mine than ever Shedding dead weight so I Won’t be late for my cue to Walk through the door of opportunity Excuse me as I strip my skin Revealing what lies within Patience is not wearing thin: my Body is shrinking but my soul is Expanding past the confines of the Physical frame I occupy in the meantime.
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Jun 21, 2017
Jun 21, 2017 at 4:22 PM UTC
Expand and Contract
The trails of burning Palo Santo cleanse me Of all that I no longer need But my soul’s light reflects off the smoke Cobwebs of curiosity create clouds Through which I cannot see —My ancestors remind me to rely not on sight, but feeling
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Jun 21, 2017
Jun 21, 2017 at 4:20 PM UTC
Smoke, Fog, and Haze
From under the magnolia’s dark green leaves, I saw Her. For the first time I recognized a face Of someone who wasn’t familiar; I was Comforted by a stranger. She showed me A vision that would one day become mine. I was 5; She was ageless. We danced and told secrets and I walked along her roots Until the street lights came on. Then I’d be gone, only to return to her Branches’ embrace, coming to know her divine face Day after day. Like it was my own. She told me that I Was a warrior; She told me that I Would never be alone; that my own roots would always Guide me home; that my mind contained Knowledge that I didn’t yet know; that through me Healing love and creation could flow, in and out. I didn’t know what it meant, but I knew She meant well. I didn’t see her for many years. Until: After 17 rotations of the sun, after thinking All I was was said and done, She returned to me In a dream. I was Down and out, seeping self-doubt. I looked upon Her face but saw my own: She said to me      “Come in through the leaves. Sit at my roots.       Look at me: look at my blooming flowers that will soon wither;       Look at my deep, entangling roots, that have held on for many storms;       Look at my leaves, evergreen, but always growing.       I am proof things remain but there is no way that       You will stay the same. You will yield to change.       To feel joy amid all the strange       Is a feeling you cannot feign,       A feeling foreign to your brain       There is no way it will sustain. But, find peace       Knowing that your soul’s moonlight won’t cease       As the same light was never extinguished in       All those who came before you:       Your magic is ancient. Your roots are deeper than       Any pain you may be feeling now. You carry within you       A potent medicine, passed down to your in your life’s blood,       From mothers, midwives, magicians, mighty warriors       Who bore you, who birthed the essence of who you are,       And are becoming yet.       Like you, I, too, was once a sapling, just beginning to feel       Our great mother’s earth, not yet knowing what it could offer.       She ensured my growth was not stunted; that I was not lost in the forest.       For every snap of a branch, there have been ten more that grew;       For every season I went without, my blooms doubled the next.       It is not in your mind’s eye now, but it will be:       The day when you come to know Her as you know me,       The day you fuse your old and current selves, to meet       Who you will become:       The past, present, and future selves as one       Fluid transition to your newfound position       Giving recognition to all parts: those without and within       To strive, to seek, to dream       May you never lose steam       To achieve, to fight for what you believe       To pursue all things with hope, all things       With love, in service to below and above.       Illuminating dark spaces, to seek familiar faces       In unlikely places and cherish the embraces       That you may never feel again.” And She is gone. The coolness of the air, not Her branches, Wraps around my shoulders Much of what surrounds me serves only as a placeholder For the connection that yields direction. The signs and prayers could all just be deception But is believing in something not better than despair? It’s a game of Lotería, but it keeps matters fair But magic and all is coming, with no shortage in sight And I can change the course of fate if I will it. Still, for now, the Fool’s fortune is greater than my own What power can I possible conjure when I’m all alone? I am left with only my intuition and sheer volition That’s wearing thin, but I’ll search for more within Even if nothing is revealed, even to examine my scope of field It may yet yield all which is past and now healed. I remember the pact we made when I was five, But, oh, how much harder it is now to keep hope alive. I’ll continue to dream even when I’ve lost all steam, even when the light narrows to a single beam. I’ll continue to hope even when the Universe says nope, even when I’m seeing only a limited scope. I’ll continue to pray even if I don’t know if I’ll see another day, even when the response is after much delay. I’ll continue to dance even if I’m not granted a deserved chance, even if my moment’s magic fails to entrance. I’ll continue to create even if I share my art too late, even if my efforts are met with hate. Magnolia’s gaze reminds me of my earth’s view This vantage point above it all But keeping close to those I’ll care for Nurturing with compassion and intuition, Healing by soft light, Providing others with gentle protection, Remembering my ancestors’ loving lesson Of rooting, and growing, from deeper within.
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Jun 21, 2017
Jun 21, 2017 at 4:13 PM UTC
From Under the Magnolia
From under the magnolia’s dark green leaves, I saw Her. For the first time I recognized a face Of someone who wasn’t familiar; I was Comforted by a stranger. She showed me A vision that would one day become mine. I was 5; She was ageless. We danced and told secrets and I walked along her roots Until the street lights came on. Then I’d be gone, only to return to her Branches’ embrace, coming to know her divine face Day after day. Like it was my own. She told me that I Was a warrior; She told me that I Would never be alone; that my own roots would always Guide me home; that my mind contained Knowledge that I didn’t yet know; that through me Healing love and creation could flow, in and out. I didn’t know what it meant, but I knew She meant well. I didn’t see her for many years. Until: After 17 rotations of the sun, after thinking All I was was said and done, She returned to me In a dream. I was Down and out, seeping self-doubt. I looked upon Her face but saw my own: She said to me      “Come in through the leaves. Sit at my roots.       Look at me: look at my blooming flowers that will soon wither;       Look at my deep, entangling roots, that have held on for many storms;       Look at my leaves, evergreen, but always growing.       I am proof things remain but there is no way that       You will stay the same. You will yield to change.       To feel joy amid all the strange       Is a feeling you cannot feign,       A feeling foreign to your brain       There is no way it will sustain. But, find peace       Knowing that your soul’s moonlight won’t cease       As the same light was never extinguished in       All those who came before you:       Your magic is ancient. Your roots are deeper than       Any pain you may be feeling now. You carry within you       A potent medicine, passed down to your in your life’s blood,       From mothers, midwives, magicians, mighty warriors       Who bore you, who birthed the essence of who you are,       And are becoming yet.       Like you, I, too, was once a sapling, just beginning to feel       Our great mother’s earth, not yet knowing what it could offer.       She ensured my growth was not stunted; that I was not lost in the forest.       For every snap of a branch, there have been ten more that grew;       For every season I went without, my blooms doubled the next.       It is not in your mind’s eye now, but it will be:       The day when you come to know Her as you know me,       The day you fuse your old and current selves, to meet       Who you will become:       The past, present, and future selves as one       Fluid transition to your newfound position       Giving recognition to all parts: those without and within       To strive, to seek, to dream       May you never lose steam       To achieve, to fight for what you believe       To pursue all things with hope, all things       With love, in service to below and above.       Illuminating dark spaces, to seek familiar faces       In unlikely places and cherish the embraces       That you may never feel again.” And She is gone. The coolness of the air, not Her branches, Wraps around my shoulders Much of what surrounds me serves only as a placeholder For the connection that yields direction. The signs and prayers could all just be deception But is believing in something not better than despair? It’s a game of Lotería, but it keeps matters fair But magic and all is coming, with no shortage in sight And I can change the course of fate if I will it. Still, for now, the Fool’s fortune is greater than my own What power can I possible conjure when I’m all alone? I am left with only my intuition and sheer volition That’s wearing thin, but I’ll search for more within Even if nothing is revealed, even to examine my scope of field It may yet yield all which is past and now healed. I remember the pact we made when I was five, But, oh, how much harder it is now to keep hope alive. I’ll continue to dream even when I’ve lost all steam, even when the light narrows to a single beam. I’ll continue to hope even when the Universe says nope, even when I’m seeing only a limited scope. I’ll continue to pray even if I don’t know if I’ll see another day, even when the response is after much delay. I’ll continue to dance even if I’m not granted a deserved chance, even if my moment’s magic fails to entrance. I’ll continue to create even if I share my art too late, even if my efforts are met with hate. Magnolia’s gaze reminds me of my earth’s view This vantage point above it all But keeping close to those I’ll care for Nurturing with compassion and intuition, Healing by soft light, Providing others with gentle protection, Remembering my ancestors’ loving lesson Of rooting, and growing, from deeper within.
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