This poem is my attempt at mimicking Elizabeth Acevedo's poetic style.   sleep, will it ever come? no? then what is the point of it all? should it be better to lie down and never get up? –like the dead?– yes, simply like death. close your eyes, let the aching pain in your head fade … Continue reading Sleep →

The first line in this poem is from Elizabeth Acevedo's poem "Iron". I also based the entire poem on that very line, though, my poem does not follow the same story as "Iron".   And although I am a poet, I am not the bullet; I will not lead the uprising into freedom, Nor will … Continue reading Not the Bullet →

Yea, I ate it. Cuz, fuck it, I was hungry. & apples are natural appetite suppressants. Can’t be mad at a girl for being worried about her figure, nah mean? Ah, you still think the snake talked me into it? Please. I lived with Adam. I been knew about snakes in the grass. Didn’t you … Continue reading Reaction to “Self Portrait of Eve as a Cardi. B” by Elizabeth Acevedo →

it never begins when the body hangs from a silk tree. it always begins when the body hangs heavy and knotted to the silk tree, and the tongue slips out of the mouth –like a swollen maggot?— no, simply like tongue. this began when the body hung heavy from rope, knotted to the silk tree … Continue reading Reaction to “February 10th, 2015” by Elizabeth Acevedo →

For sleeping: Don’t fall asleep with your knees up or you’ll invite a ghost to mount you. For ghosts: Never ask them what they want. That’s some American shit. For ghosts that won’t leave: Use frankincense. Conduct a rosary circle. Lead them to a tree that guards gold. For nightmares: Upon waking speak your dreams … Continue reading Reaction to “Dominican Superstitions” by Elizabeth Acevedo →

it’s the being alone, i think, the emails but not voices. dominicans be funny, the way we love to touch — every greeting a cheek kiss, a shoulder clap, a loud. it gots to be my period, the bloating, the insurance commercial where the husband comes home after being deployed, the last of the gouda gone, the … Continue reading Reaction to “You Mean You Don’t Weep at the Nail Salon?” by Elizabeth Acevedo →

And although I am a poet, I am not the bullet; I will not heat-search the soft points. I am not the coroner who will graze her hand over naked knees. Who will swish her fingers in the mouth. Who will flip the body over, her eye a hook fishing for government-issued lead. I am … Continue reading Reaction to “Iron” by Elizabeth Acevedo →

Niobe Henrietta Cordelia Ray, 1849 - 1916 O mother-heart! when fast the arrows flew, Like blinding lightning, smiting as they fell, One after one, one after one, what knell Could fitly voice thy anguish! Sorrow grew To throes intensest, when thy sad soul knew Thy youngest, too, must go. Was it not well, Avengers wroth, … Continue reading Reactions to Poetry; p10 →

Written During a Temporary Blindness in the Year 1799 Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1772 - 1834 O what a life is the eye! what a strange and inscrutable essence! Him, that is utterly blind, nor glimpses the fire that warms him; Him that never beheld the swelling breast of his mother; Him that smiled in his … Continue reading Reactions to Poetry; p9 →

My dear friend, You have to calm down. You’re always so scared, hiding, can I just have my friend back? Come back to us, no one wants to hurt you. No one is watching you, you have to remain calm, trust your friends, we just want to help you! Don’t lock yourself in your room, … Continue reading Letter to Paranoia →