I've been writing personal essays, short stories, and rambling thoughts since high school. I have also worked on a memoir/novel about my mother's life for several years. But I never considered myself a poet. I've certainly dashed off wild thoughts about personal or environmental and other social issues that somewhat resembled poetry. But not having had a formal education in creative writing, I never deemed them as having proper structure. I only wrote "poetry" as an expressional … [Read more...]
Adapting to a Pandemic-Based Life
A year ago, I was in San Jose at my former boyfriends’ house when the first shelter-in-place order was issued for the Bay Area. Fear was the driving factor behind all actions that day and in the weeks and months to come. Fear of being arrested, fear of dying, fear of never seeing loved ones again, fear of abandonment. Well, it's amazing how one adapts to fear and everything else that has accompanied our COVID-19-filled lives. Here’s how my life has changed and how I’ve adapted to the … [Read more...]
Is it Time to Panic?
Tango Transmission I washed my hands while listening to the two women behind me chatting in front of dark pink bathroom stalls. The short dark-haired one, wearing a blue-and-green, flower-covered dress leaned against the wall, while the older one worked on shifting her snug, dark purple dress down her body. “So did you just get back from Germany?” the older woman asked. “No, no, we went to Indonesia,” the shorter one said. That’s when I looked into the mirror at the shorter woman. I … [Read more...]
A Love Story: Told in Haiku
looking for true loveon a dating app, swipe right?what surprise awaits kisses, sex, bliss, lovetoo fast, too good to be true?time will tell they say laughter, hiking, sexwalking, talking, discoverycooking, playing, love no expectationsno regret, no assumptionsno anger, no hurt as soon as planes leaveand the sun's rays disappearloneliness arrives I close my eyes ourpassionate embrace floods mymind body and soul I miss you, my lovethe days are too long to waitto see you … [Read more...]
An Homage to My Mother on Father’s Day
"Happy Father's Day," I said to my mother during our daily call to each other. She laughed, but I could tell she appreciated it. My mother Rosa raised my two brothers and me on her own, all of us one or two years apart, financially, physically, and emotionally. While we were latchkey kids because she worked all the time, and there was a great deal of drama throughout our lives, I mostly remember the times we piled into her big silver Chrysler and took off for the beach or to the mountains to … [Read more...]
A Day Without a Woman Dilemma
I participated in the A Day Without a Woman nationwide strike. No work, no shopping — except at woman or minority-owned businesses — and wearing red to show support. It should have been no problem for me. Most days I work from home, and I don't shop or dine out regularly. However, this day I found it difficult to stay put. I felt trapped. There were all these things I wanted to do, or felt I needed to do, now that I couldn't; of course, on my own volition. I was restless, and uneasy. But if I … [Read more...]