Columbian-Progress, Mississippi, February 3, 1955

IM GOING TO STAB MYSELF IN THE FOOT I JUST SENT MY ENGLISH TEACHER MY ESSAY ON HAMLET AND IT WAS STILL NAMED “the fresh prince of denmark yo holla”

teenage girls actually have to go through a lot of bullshit and the fact that it’s considered cool to make fun of them for being upset or emotional is kind of gross

the hogwarts houses as things my brother does

ravenclaw: constantly explaining the minutia of his interests

hufflepuff: gets drunk and talks about how much he loves his friends

slytherin: spins a web of lies to get out of chores

gryffindor: "U WOT M8"

Davey: Why, dear god, is the building on fire?

Jack: a dragon sneezed

Race: tried to light a cig with a flamethrower

Albert: dropped my latest mixtape

Davey: Crutchie, please, tell me what happened

Crutchie: um

[Flashback to Crutchie arguing with Race that it was impossible for a fire extinguisher to catch on fire]

Crutchie: i don’t remember

“To look in the face of hard things and keep moving forward - that’s what one has to do.”

“La sirena y el pescador,” Elisa Chavez.

Hey all! This poem is part of my chapbook Miss Translated, which I produced in a limited run as Town Hall Seattle’s Spring 2017 artist-in-residence. The main conceit behind this work is that to accurately portray my relationship with Spanish, I have to explore the pain and ambiguity of not speaking the language of my grandparents and ancestors. As a result, these poems are bilingual … sort of. Each one is translated into English incorrectly.

The poems I produced have secrets, horrific twists, emotional rants, and confessions hiding in the Spanish. It’s my hope that people can appreciate them regardless of their level of Spanish proficiency.

When people start trash talking my favourite series

Laurens: If you want Alexander, you’ll have to get through all of us!

Burr: Except me.

Hercules: Except Burr.

Burr: I don’t care what happens.