be love.
shine your light
where it's dark
and show the kindness
in your heart.
be love
and wrap your arms
around broken hearts.
don't keep quiet
and say words
that heal,
that bring hope.
just be love.

did you expect my flowers
to bloom among you?
what could grow on your dry land?
only weeds.

stop swimming
in oceans of shame,
of guilt, of regret.
let grace be your lighthouse
and swim to its shore.
let yesterday drown
in the sea of forgetfulness
and let go.
the past is not yours.

“you are so skinny.”
and beautiful.
and happy.
and full of life, with two stars instead of eyes.
but you can only say,
“you are so skinny.”
you only see my bones,
my thinner thighs.
but look at me.
see me.
see how my soul has grown so much it doesn’t fit in my body,
look at the light in my heart,
at the words written in my soul,
look beyond my skin.
look at me,
look at me and tell me
that my smile is brighter than the sun,
that i look happy,
that i've changed,
that i've blossomed.
there are so many things you could say
but you only say,
“you are so skinny.”

in twenty one days, on the twenty first of may, you will be turning twenty one.
twenty one seemed so far away when you were growing up. i remember how you pictured twenty one year-old you, with wavy jet-black hair, thin bones and a radiant smile.
your hair is wavy right now, thanks to the rain that hasn't stopped falling; your bones are the thinnest they've ever been; and i think you've got a pretty radiant smile. so, three out of three, i guess.
and your life is better than what you dreamed.
you are surrounded by so much goodness.
your mondays, tuesdays, wednesdays, thursdays and fridays are filled with the laughter of fifteen children that steal your phone to take selfies and give you hugs that leave you breathless.
you have the friends you have always wanted. it took you a while to find them, but they're here now. they are your home.
you are doing beautiful things with your life. your words are in books, in journals and in people's hearts.
your life is more than life. it is light and fire and bravery and hope and a song.
and you are loved.

un día maybe mami
will run her hands through my hair.
she will not try to straighten it.
her fingers will be gentle and kind.
un día maybe she will look at my skin
won't point out the flaws
(aunque los haya)
she will connect all the freckles and beauty marks
me llamará una constellation
miel will drip from her lips
fall on my forehead
un día maybe mami
will understand me
read my poems
write me un poema
in which she loves me

when people look at my heart,
may they find beauty.
may they say i'm beautiful because
of my gentle spirit,
because of my kindness.
may they say i'm beautiful because
of my bravery and fearlessness.
may they say i'm beautiful because
of my joyful smile.
may they say i'm beautiful not because
of my hairstyle,
my jewelry,
my clothes,
my face.
may they find beauty in
my soul.

one day
we will be whole
but until then
we’ll keep fighting,
we’ll take one day at a time
we will laugh and we’ll cry
and we will learn to take our walls down
we’ll be a lighthouse to each other
and carry one another through the night
we’ll see the sun rise
and we’ll find the courage to try again
the waves might try to drown us
but promise me
you won’t sink

on my right leg,
under my knee
lives a cinnamon colored stain
that looks a bit like africa
the same way i look a bit like africa
in the shape of my nose
and the waves of my curls
waves like the water that carried my
ancestors in boats
all the way to this island
of salt and sugarcane

i hope you love yourself.
that every morning when you wake up
you can smile.
i hope
that when you look in the mirror
you can see all that makes you special.
that you don't need to look in the mirror
to remember you're beautiful.
that you love yourself enough
to follow your dreams,
to leave your fears behind.
i hope
that you love yourself enough
to let go of what hurts you,
what weighs you down.
that you love yourself enough to
believe in yourself,
in the light you carry inside.
that you love yourself enough to
live for tomorrow.
i hope you love yourself.
i hope you stay.

you are loved
you are loved
you are loved
my soul,
know it,
my soul
grace is yours
grace is yours
grace is yours
my soul,
know it,
my soul
you are redeemed
you are redeemed
you are redeemed
my soul,
know it,
my soul.

i am sitting in a taxi cab
reading poetry
and thinking
that there must be some metaphor
hidden here
some deep meaning
something greater than just a woman
reading poetry in a taxi cab
a thought
something like
i am the only one who does this
and that my beauty lives in choosing
poetry to fill my days with
something like
this is what will make someone
fall in love with me
but maybe
maybe the poetry in this moment
maybe the greatest thing in all of this
is that i am a woman
reading poetry in a taxi cab.

we are poems.
beautifully written,
wonderfully designed;
marvelous works of art.
we are written with
starlight and wonder,
with verses of beauty
written across our hearts.
we are walking rhymes,
walking wonders,
walking words that tell
stories of freedom
and redemption.
we are poetry,
we are songs,
we are melodies
that are sung on
bright days.
we are the words of grace,
we are the words unforgotten,
we are words that remain.

i’ll name you after a flower
and i'll let raindrops fall on your forehead
so that you bloom
i'll plant kisses
like daisies on your cheeks
so that you become a garden
and i’ll sing to you my love
so that you never forget the words,
so that you never doubt you’re loved
and i'll write to you
words i don’t know yet
i will reach to the sky
and bring down stars
to teach you to shine like they do

i wonder
what will be the cause of heartbreak?
what will make you leave?
will i make you leave?
who will leave?
i know
one of us will.
i already know
i will
not save anything for myself
(i know i should)
but i will not
i will
not even try.
i will
give you everything—
my heart, my bones, my time,
my shoulders and hands and collarbone
and all of my firsts.
i will
write you poems, tuck them in your hair
i will
whisper you my love in the night.
i wonder
about your eyes
how will they see me?
what color are they?
what will it take from me to make them dance?
i know
i will love you long after you’re gone
ours will be the story
i will tell my children
i know
i will forgive you and let you go,
remember you more times than i should,
write you poems you will never read.

one day (or night)
it hits you
(the feeling that you are not alone anymore)
and even though you were never afraid of
(loneliness)
you don't want to feel it anymore

when they tell you
"go look for love,"
look for it first
inside you.
it will be
(most certainly)
knocking at the door of your heart.
(your heartbeat.)
let it in.
it will run through every room inside
moving things around
untangling the messes you've made
making room.
it will change you.
you might not recognize yourself.
it will bring light to your eyes,
brighten your smile,
redden your cheeks.
it will teach you to make art.
to sing and write poetry and dabble in painting.
it will teach you to like you,
to love you,
the wonder that you are.
you'll know what love looks like
now that it's inside you.

when i write
i am reaching out for you
(to you)
the belief (hope) that you are out there
that i have seen you
and you have seen
me
there is a longing here
and i have no words for it
and most days,
i can ignore it
but some days
there are no poems
there is only the fire
the longing left behind
the fingerprints of wind on my face
maybe one day
the longing
will move into someone else’s heart
put a ‘for sale’ sign in mine

there is so much of you here.
in me.
my skin
holds your touch.
your fingerprints are mine.
my eyes
are the color of every coffee we shared.
my lips
have learned to move like yours
my words
rhyme with your own.
do not wonder if you left any traces.
i carry them all.

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?

coffee and milk
sand and sea
night and stars
flowers and rain
you and i-
the perfect blend.

there will never be enough flowers
to fill the garden in your heart
and there will never be enough stars
to cover the sky that is your soul
and all the words
won't be enough to tell the wonder that you are
but heaven knows
i'll try

dreaming of coffee dates
and your hand crawling towards mine
and a love
dreaming of watching sunsets
next to you, and your fingers tangled in my hair
and a love
dreaming of you, singing songs in my ear
and a love
dreaming of the way your arms
will feel around my waist
and a love
dreaming of your eyes, lit up by your smile
and a love
dreaming of not wanting to hide from you
and a love
dreaming of a love
and a love
and a love.

i am finding myself
in the beautiful things,
and finding the beautiful things in myself
and suddenly
i don’t feel so lost

i don't want you to get lost
looking for me
i want to stand in the middle of your heart
to be the brightest star
i want you to see me
i don't want to hide

my soul
has turned into a house
with leaks in its roof
my words are the raindrops
that fall through
and i
i am trying to catch them all.

i want
to
dream,
to love,
to never settle
for less than more,
to look at the
stars and know
i was made to
shine brighter
than they do,
to look at the sky
and know it is
my home,
to run wildly
and freely,
unafraid and
brave,
to dare to jump
and fall and
rise,
to
dream,
to love,
to never settle
for less than more.

with just three nails
Your life ended
and mine began.
it took only three nails
to change my destiny,
my identity,
my future.
with three nails
You gave me life i don't deserve
because i fail you
and yet You love me.
those three nails signified
Your unending love
for me.
those three nails gave me
the freedom to struggle.
and i will never fully understand
what it meant for You to let
those three nails
pierce You.
i will never fully understand
how much it hurt,
how much it cost
You to let
those three nails pierce You.
and yet i know that
if You had to do it again
You would let
those three nails
pierce You.

i went swimming
in the sea of your words,
and overwhelmed by
your waves,
the waves that called my
name,
the waves that said
that
You love me, that i am
not alone, that You care for
me, that You look at
my heart
and You like what you see,
that my heart is worth
pursuing,
in those waves,
i drowned.

tu nombre
i've whispered it into the night
a million times
i've tasted it in mi boca
like honey, slow and sweet
tu nombre
lo sabe la luna
i've sung it to the stars
to my heart
like a lullaby to calm the sea dentro de mí
tu nombre
lo llevo tatuado en los labios
en cada espacio
tu nombre
i've said it like a prayer
lo he llorado
se lo he cantado al alma
hoping it finds peace
tu nombre
is in todas las cosas
está en everything
en el verano
and its rain
in spring y las flores.
tu nombre
todo. everything.

poems are raining down from the ceiling.
poems are crawling in from the windows.
the garden is blooming poems.
it is also a poem.
this house is mostly poems.
the yellow dog in the yellow house is barking poems.
the girl who lives down the street is a poem
and she speaks to the neighbor in poems.
me, watching them from my window, is a poem
and all the words i want to tell them are made of poems.
her brother rides a bicycle poem
and the laughter he leaves behind is a poem.
the man who walks by smiles a poem.
more children come, dressed in poems
and they begin to play, which is my favorite poem.
the sun sets, like a poem
and the darkness that comes is a poem.
nobody goes home, and this too is a poem.
the crickets begin to sing, which is a kind of poem.
today is all poems.
the lamppost is shining poems,
the light is a poem,
the cold coffee is a poem,
this window is a poem,
and the night that holds all of this is a poem.
oh, i never want to leave.

beauty does not come
in lipstick tubes,
in concealer,
in eyeshadow
and liquid eyeliner.

beauty isn't
perfection,
beauty isn't
fashion,
beauty isn't
grabbing everyone's attention.

beauty hides in
the soul of she who faced her fears
beauty hides in
the heart of he who is brave
beauty hides in
a joyful heart
beauty hides in
brokenness made new.

your heart is a flower
water it daily
with joy
with songs
with cotton candy skies,
watercolor sunsets
and kind words
let the light find you
and make sure the sun
shines on it
and watch it
bloom.

i am everywhere.
in the sun.
in lavender skies.
in the words i write,
in the words i haven’t written yet,
the words i don’t know.
i am everywhere.
caught up in my past.
looking forward.
here.
i am everywhere.
in the sky.
in this earth.
wandering and rooted.
i am everywhere.
lost.
finding myself.
found.
i am everywhere.

if i knew how to play
the guitar i would
write the sappiest love
songs for you
but sadly, darling, i am
musically impaired

if i knew how to paint
i would color
the most glorious sunsets
just for you
but sadly, darling, i am
artistically limited

if i knew how to sew
i would patch up
the torn seams
of your heart
but sadly, darling, i have no
idea how to use a needle

if i knew how to cook
i would make your
favorite desserts
to sweeten up your day
but sadly, darling, my
only specialty is burnt eggs

oh darling,
i am not good at many
things but if there is
one thing that i
can do well, oh my darling,
that is loving you.

sometimes it rains,
and if you’re quiet,
you can hear the trees give thanks.
sometimes the children laugh,
and everything is yellow.
sometimes a friend writes you a poem,
sometimes you wake up and there is already coffee waiting for you,
& the words ‘thank you’
are the first to touch your lips.
this is how joy shows up in the heart,
an unexpected guest,
but welcome nonetheless.

is it silly to write you a poem
when we've never kissed,
when we've never spoken,
when we've never met?
is it silly to tell you that i love you
when i don't even know
if i'll ever know you?
is it silly to want you,
to crave you, to say that i miss you?
is it silly that i can't write these verses
without wanting to cry, wanting to mourn
the loss of someone i never had?
is it silly to think that one day
i'll show you these words
and you'll smile when you
think at how things turned out?
is it silly to believe that i won't be alone?

i want words
for this
for me
for you
i want words
like a river like an ocean like rain
i do not want silence
i do not want to hesitate
i want honey on my lips on my tongue
words dripping from my mouth
hands overflowing
with poetry and song and
i want words

i didn’t want rain.
i wanted beauty.
i wanted to see the rising sun
touch the blooming flowers
and i wanted to fall in love
with the glow of the sunset.
but it rained.
maybe i needed the rain,
because i needed to remember
that rain makes
the blooming flowers grow
and rain brings rainbows
and it washes away the
ugliness and brings back beauty.
and maybe i needed the rain
to remind me that i won’t always
be broken, that the brokenness
will be made whole, that this
season one day will be a dim memory,
that You will wipe away my tears,
that You make it rain on my heart
so that flowers can bloom in it,
so rainbows can fill the
skies of my soul.
maybe i just needed it to rain.

maybe you won't find me beautiful
because of my hair
or my lips
or the color of my skin
maybe you won't love
the way i walk or the way i dress
but i hope you fall in love with
the words in my soul
and the fire in my heart
and the myriad of stars in my eyes
and the wonder and grace that
are tangled in my hair
and the bravery that is
locked up in my bones
and the unfading beauty
of my spirit
and if you think that's
beautiful,
that is enough for me.

the bookshelves in my room
are filled up with poetry books
and the bookshelves of my soul
keep their words
they keep the heart of the ones who wrote them
inside my heart
they keep stories like mine
and unlike mine,
a reminder that we’re all making art
and beauty out of our lives,
that we are making songs out of our days,
making our burdens and the things we carry lighter
and that we belong to each other.

i am not my body.
my soul is too big to fit inside it.
i have left my body many times
looking for a home for my soul.
i tried to fit it inside other bodies
inside someone else's soul
only to get bruised and breathless.
i tried leaving my soul in places
but then
when i left
i ended up missing it
so i brought my soul back to my body.
it knows it is not its home
but it is the only home i know.
every now and then
i let it go
and it visits the stars.

have you ever stopped to think
that maybe i raise my voice
not out of disrespect
but maybe
so you can listen?
listen.
there is a heart here, afraid. of you.
there is brokenness you inflicted. pain you named into existence.
wounds that maybe time will heal.
there is laughter that does not want you to hear it.
a song whispered so that you cannot have it.
one day the whisper will become a song.
the laughter a poem.
the heart a voice, saying,
i am here i am here i am here
i am here i am here i am here
i am here
and you will listen.

don't hide your face.
don't hide your heart.
don't hide your soul.
don't keep who you are
all to yourself.
let the world see you,
let them see the wonderful
creation that you are.
let them marvel at the
admirable light that shines
inside of you, darling.
don't keep your beauty
and wonder to yourself.
share your brave heart,
show your kind spirit and
your gentle beauty.
but don't keep the ugly inside.
don't keep your doubts and
your fears and your sadness
to yourself.
don't drown in your sorrows
and your tears.
don't bottle yourself up.

when hands reach to touch you
may they reach for you
not hoping to find anything
but you
may they reach for you knowing
that you cannot fill empty spaces
and that you
do not have any empty spaces within you
may they reach for you
gently, in love,
with wonder at the wonder
that you are

every morning
i walk into this space:
a classroom.
i turn on the lights,
open cabinets,
set the tables
with paper and pencil.
i tell myself that i will teach you what i know,
which is not much.
i read you stories, tell you about poetry
and i let you play.
in exchange,
you teach me what you know:
to laugh at myself, to play,
to look at the world around me
and take notice of it.
every now and then i wonder,
who is the teacher?
is it me
or
is it you?

maybe my poems
(my love)
are meant for the rain
she will carry my words
(my love)
across the river
to the sea
tell the fisherman
he’s got mail

i am standing in front of you
and you don’t see me
i am the moon and stars
but you only see the night
i am the poetry in songs
but you don’t pay attention to my music
and then
you wonder
why i hide
from you
why my voice turns into silence
when you pass by

find me braver,
find me kinder
find me loving with
a wide-open heart
find me with flowers on my head
and forgiveness in my heart
find me alive,
find me in love

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.