
On days where I feel doubtful of who I am and what direction my life is headed, I remind myself that I’m worth the time and investment, no matter how much. I say these things to myself as a mental note that I’m worth the progress I’m making.
My mamí always had fragrant cremas on her hands. She would put them on daily, always using them in the morning, before leaving for work. They came in these little round pastel bottles with gold and silver caps. As a girl I would play with the botellitas, stacking them, cutting circles of paper and using the cremas to make paper tortillas. Opening them all, I’d take a fingertip’s worth of each one and create a nauseating concoction. To this day, every time I smell one of these scents, I’m taken back to my mamí’s room. Like a snapshot, I see the crisply pulled linen across the bed. I feel the oscillating fan blowing the humid summer air through the room, and see the crocheted lace on every nightstand.
by Kelly Duarte
How much brighter do you think you can get?
Your beams already fall into my eyes
And you burn into my memories
So stunningly
That images of you lay over
The visions of every day.
My dreams are washed out
And replaced with your glow.
I’m not sure if I’m seeing you
In my future
Or seeing a lasting flash
From the camera
Holding the pictures of us
From my past
But I keep my eyes open
Because I’d rather be blinded
By your light
Than to see clear in a darkness
That only happens when you’re gone
It feels like the hundredth time this morning that something reminds you of them. The grocery store bakery carries that rare bread that they like. You’re tempted to smell it because you think it’ll make you feel close to them again. You think burying your nose into something they love will turn you back into something they love. It won’t. It’ll just make you that weird person who gets too friendly with the bread. So you stare at it intently, but walk away to avoid the embarrassment.