i am not a stranger to hopelessness
it is easy to get tired of waiting
for what you want but won’t come
like love
like a hand to hold
the time when arms hold you instead of your arms holding others
like love
the feeling that everyone else (it seems)
but you
knows
it is easy to believe it will never come
but we keep waiting, don’t we?
we wake up every morning,
we give thanks,
we live,
we listen for the song of the birds
and sing back to them, “maybe today,”
and at night when the stars come out
we still dare to make wishes upon them
keeping our options open
hoping
hoping
hoping

the sparrows and their song
visited my windowsill this morning
their notes
a poem
a memory
a whisper,
“we are here, we sing.
you are here, so sing.”

our house will be big enough
to hold our two hearts
and the love that beats out of them
the walls will be filled with the words
i wrote to you
and all the times you told me ‘i love you’
in our kitchen
i'll save the recipes
to make you laugh
to make you smile
to make you forget your troubles
our bookshelves will be filled with poetry and flowers
our house will have a garden
where hope will grow wild
and every time i choose you
a flower will bloom

hay un país en el mundo
colocado
en el mismo trayecto del sol.
y yo estoy en él.
intentando nadar en sus aguas de ron y morirsoñando,
intentando no ahogarme,
intentando volver al lugar de donde soy.
en las orillas del mar
de este país en el mundo
la arena cuenta la historia de aquellos que estuvieron antes de mí
de los barcos,
los barcos,
los barcos que dieron y robaron,
los barcos que me dieron mis rizos y mi nariz,
mi español y mi apellido.
hay un país en el mundo
colocado
en el mismo trayecto del sol.
y yo estoy en él,
con amor por sus lluvias de café y gente cálida,
sus calles y sus ríos,
playas y canciones.
hay un país en el mundo
colocado
en el mismo trayecto del sol.
y yo estoy en él,
temiendo por sus mujeres y su belleza,
temiendo por sus niñas,
temiendo por, y a, sus hombres sin amor.
hay un país en el mundo,
colocado
en el mismo trayecto del sol.
y yo estoy en él.
su tierra tiene más poemas de los que sabe leer,
más canciones de las que puede cantar,
más esperanza de la que ha perdido.
todavía hay esperanza
para este país en el mundo
colocado en el mismo trayecto del sol.
y yo estoy en él.

there is a country in the world
put on the same trajectory as the sun
and i am in it
trying to swim in its waters of *** and morirsoñando
trying to stay afloat,
trying to swim back to where i came from.
in the shores of the sea
of this country in the world
the sand tells the stories of those who came before me
the ships,
the ships,
the ships that gave and took away,
the ships that gave me my curls and my nose,
my spanish and my last name.
there is a country in the world
put on the same trajectory as the sun
and i am in it,
with love for its coffee rains and warm people,
for its streets and rivers,
beaches and songs.
there is a country in the world
put on the same trajectory as the sun
and i am in it,
afraid for its women and their beauty,
afraid for its girls,
afraid of, and for, its men without love.
there is a country in the world
put on the same trajectory as the sun
and i am in it,
and this land holds more poems than it can read,
more songs than it can sing,
more hope than what it has lost.
there is hope
for a country in the world
put on the same trajectory as the sun
and i am in it.

tell me
i am beautiful
not because i need to hear it
not because if you do not say it i won’t believe it
(because i will believe it, i already do)
tell me
i am beautiful
because you think so
because i am

aren’t you tired of looking for love?
aren’t you tired of waiting for it?
the love like a movie like a song like a story like a dream like a poem?
aren't you tired?
isn’t your hope weary?
and, don’t you see?
love has always been here,
the love you crave,
the love like a movie like a song like a story like a dream like a poem
love like a river like a waterfall like an ocean
love like this morning like this breath like this moment?