It will not be my desire to conquer ancient empires, nor to prevent a cowardly retreat, nor to venture into unknown lands, but simply to renounce the piercing illusion of one who believes they can return to the same place they once departed from.

That summer we worked side by side, slowly learning each other’s names, our stories, and the quiet ways our souls seemed to understand one another, even if our bodies never crossed that line.

Lánguida figura de nazareos rizos negros. Silenciosa presencia de escandalosos apetitos volcánicos, insaciables.

The tang of citrus sun to mute the taste of morning.

Four years have passed since we began working with my mind. To recognize myself more, to reconcile with my demons, and not to die of anxiety.

The coffee cooled untouched, the light shifted, and in that small room of metal and shadow, she felt the strange mercy of being alive: unnoticed, unneeded, but undeniably here.

When I pass a construction site, I avoid walking beneath any ladder that suggests a deadly scalene triangle, and I pray that along my path no fatally black cat crosses my way.

I allowed myself to wither in times of drought, when your words were not constant, and I stretched out my hands to see if I could reach a little of your attention, like someone searching for something in a drawer that has been stirred up over time, knowing they will never find it.

What haunts me are my sighs, and this raw, absolute wanting for you to leave a slow, planetary weight growing inside me.

Tú me enseñaste el arte de acomodar libros y apuntes para aparentar una faena de tareas y sacrificio sobre el escritorio, para conservar el privilegio de quienes se entregan a la noche y la despiden igual, para beberse la madrugada.

I get bored doing nothing, and even though I know I should be doing other things, I never start them.

To rise and search for myself in the timeless waters, to carry myself always until I inhabit my body, to look the monster in the face and rescue myself from myself.