God knows we can heal gently from grief when we mix the ashes of our loved one into art. What if there is neither flesh nor bone that can be found of the one I’ve lost? Do I pluck skin from belly button

These arms are roots tangling at the fingers, stuck carrying the ghost weight of two babies my body couldn’t birth. Their names carved on the bark of my womb, Motherhood seems like sacrificial soil. How

Cut off my ear then tape it underneath my rib cage. The wheezing will come quicker this way, & I’ll hear how heavy breaths weigh down lungs that have been drowning in 66 weeks of unsaid apologies.

I am not a qualified beauty candidate for the latest makeup trends. The excitement to become a candidate encourages me to continue working on healing my body. My imperfections are visible signs of not

If No Saint Appears In the crack of the egg, olive oil’s stir, and the sizzle in frying, there’s a symphony composing itself. Add a touch of basil when it’s almost at the end of its song. Heat up tortillas.

For an old friend I question the sanity of a man the moment he decides to leave a good woman. How can he forget when she swallows she does it out of love. For her there is no better nourishment then to

Barrio to Barrio, Conchas y Churros En La Mano Father’s hands had the chance to learn how to roll out dough and make conchas, cuernitos, y cochinitos de pan. He could have birthed a passion for stirring

Bastardo de Guadalajara Every time I scrapped my knees, had boohoo eyes and fevers I would receive my father’s verbal lashings: You’re weak. Stop crying. Do not come to me. Run off to your mother. Your

The first slice into an onion, those tears that swell from eyes smother me every morning. My hands feel so light, not enough weight in them. I don’t dream about the blood anymore. Stomach too flat, not

purple autumn cherry colored skies tangerine painted sun d r i p p i n g sweet nectar dreams w a r m i n g virgin bodies that are ready to explode from holding too much love within

Angels kicked from heaven shake their wings violently until they bleed on bridges, streets, roof tops, everywhere. Fits of rage that last minutes, hours, days. We confuse this for rain. Who would have

Like lust in the chill of the grave I find myself waiting desperately for death to evaporate slowly into vertebrae crevices tug at every organ releasing me into the arms of a dimension that holds you tightly

Letters for Eternity We write as if to believe God himself will read our words out loud to his angel legions. Command them to memorize our sonnets, odes, and prose with hope that they will sing our lines

Two months into her pregnancy after continuous amounts of regular bleeding the doctors tell her I am an ectopic pregnancy. Miniature red flags are attached at a frightening rate onto her belly button.

Mother breaks underneath el Espiritu Santo. She sings with holy panting. Her body bruises while skin blossoms red and white. Mother makes love every morning with Death and God raw. She likes the balance

Here's a little throw back to when I volunteered to "model" for my best friend who is a photographer (Anna Krivenkoff). She dressed me up and made me feel pretty during each shooting session

Suns are born from the spit of my dying mother’s tongue ((and)) from residue her loneliness huffs out. I am not there to witness how black holes take form on the cusp of her lips when she’s crying out

The sun was conspicuously set in the horizon while the sky slowly began to hum aquamarine. Susana looks quietly at Oliver. This wasn't a good morning. They both looked like two broken winged birds swinging

A parent's main focus is doing everything they can for their child to live a healthy lifestyle. However, it's essential that a parent takes on responsibility, and keeps themselves informed on pressing

It’s hard to imagine not everyone was born into the modern world. At the age of ten, Maria Lopez Gallardo viewed the new world of man for the first time. Before then, she had lived her entire life in an