The story behind the picture.
How inexplicable is it to be in love with what never gave you a reason to fall? To want and need his attention more than every once in a while and to be jealous of whoever steals that attention from you. I write about it to try to understand this phenomenon — this grueling, unnecessarily…
It was a four-way intersection. He honked at her as she sped up to turn right. In an unexpected move, he turned left and was then driving behind her. That’s when she rolled down her window, stuck out her hand and gave him the finger. She watched his face in her rear view mirror hoping…
“You’re skinny as a dog,” my classmate, Jess, said to me once in high school. That’s my earliest recollection of anyone ever bringing my own weight to my attention as an attempt to offend me. Although I found her dog analogy a bit unfitting, I knew what she meant. But looking back, I also realize…
The listing didn’t say anything about there being cats. It was when we met in person that she told me she had, not one but TWO cats. I’d been tirelessly looking for an apartment at the time when I came across what I’ve now called home for quite some time. The housing situation seemed so…
Today marks the thirteenth day of me waking up to Mr. Rodrigo’s attacks—a milestone I won’t be celebrating. Some days, I stay in bed and stare at the white ceiling above me, asking whoever can hear my thoughts what I’ve done to deserve this. Then, I try to fall asleep again, ignoring the proven fact…
“Are those blue suede shoes?” you asked. “Are you color blind?” I replied, “And, that’s blue suede STILETTOS for ya.” “Smart mouth, I see.” “And you’re quite the observer.” “It just made me think of that Elvis’ song, and since I’m a fan…” “Well, you can drink my liquor, but don’t you step on my…
Because it is one of my favorite poems, that I’ve written, I am posting it again. (Originally here I Want a House Full of Nothing.) This I wrote at a time when I was unhappy with myself and my surroundings. Having everything meant nothing; hence, I imagined a world where living with nothing or just…
I remember the day. Spontaneity was in the air. Sky, bright. Sun, a delight. What a laugh we had. Then, the rain came down and, instead of running from it, we ran towards it. We stayed. We played with it, and we went through it. Because waiting for the storm to pass was not an…
How could I have ignored the time Rey commented on my neighbors’ little sister’s physical appearance? “Man, she’s going to be a heartbreaker,” he said in a way that no grown eighteen-year-old male should be using to refer to a ten-year-old. I found the comment inappropriate, but said nothing. And, how about the time a…
I learned about the terminology “Thirst trap” from my brother the other day. (I still laugh at those words, by the way.) All the brave women coming clean about their sexual assault or harassment experience these past weeks made me, once again, think of this social media–especially Instagram–slang. There’s this short story I read on…
Do I like Miami? Yes. Would I live in Miami for the rest of my life? Leaving out the fact that I can’t be at one place for too long (on this humongous planet with so many places to go and see), I can’t see myself calling this place home for the long run. However,…
Here’s a little story. I remember the night of November eighth. I wanted to go to a bar, be in the middle of the action, get ready to celebrate Hillary Clinton’s victory–just as I had for Obama last two elections. But sh*t escalated quickly. My friend wanted to go to her brother’s house instead, so…