I watch you in the morning while you are sleeping. I prepare my altar carefully so not to disturb you. I burn sage to remove unwanted spirits. They say this is how you keep the evil away. The smoke fills the air. The faint light of dawn creeps through the window highlighting the softness of your face. The stillness of the room interrupted only by … Continue reading The Mamí Chronicles: The Gift of Mothering
On June 28th, immediately after the completion of my Voices of Our Nations Arts (VONA) workshop at UC Berkeley I boarded a plane to Las Vegas for the American Library Association Book Conference and the 2014 International Latino Awards where I would be signing copies and attending an awards ceremony for my award winning book, Letters to My Daughter. I was not prepared for the 105 degree heat … Continue reading The ALA Book Conference & 2014 International Latino Book Awards
She will learn from early that she carries history in her hair. Generations of thick tangled tresses. Genetically made up to be wild, not tamed or managed or straightened. Tautly twined coils stretched like the goatskin that cover djembe drums each lock relentlessly rebelling. Defiant like sugar cane, too relentless to conform, to transform, to be altered into something that she wasn’t really destined to … Continue reading For colored girls
If you want to touch the past, touch a rock. If you want to touch the present, touch a flower. If you want to touch the future, touch a life. — Unknown On Tuesday, after 3 months of compiling and editing the work of Christ the King’s 4th grade class, I went back to the school and presented the students with their very first book of … Continue reading Giving Back: It’s good for the soul
I have been blessed with so many wonderful and positive things in my life and for me, the best way to show gratitude for my blessings is by paying it forward. That’s exactly what I’m doing, but I can’t do it alone. That’s why I am reaching out to each of you in the hopes that you will partner with me and help me raise … Continue reading Paying it forward
In January of this year I self published my second book, through my own publishing house, CreativeInk Publishing. When I wrote Letters to My Daughter I knew that it was going to be a book worth recognizing because I put my heart into writing that book. As a virtually new mother (my daughter is 19 months old), I wanted to leave her legacy that she … Continue reading Letters To My Daughter Is An International Latino Book Awards Finalist
Join me January 23, 2014 as I perform alongside some of NYC’s most distinguished poets at the Nuyorican Poet’s Café as we celebrate the memory of our loved ones who have passed on. Features include: Miguel Angeles Maria Aponte Marybeth Aponte Shamar Hill Flora Montes Maria Rodriguez Nancy Ruffin Tamara Saliva Papo Swiggity Mark Vigo aka Vigo Hard Feature Bios: Vanessa Mártir aka La Loba … Continue reading Upcoming Events (Remembering Love: A La Loba Poetry & LatinosNYC Production)
It was the Fall/Winter of 2010 when I first walked into what was then known as Notice Lounge in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. My friend Maria “Mescribidora” Rodriguez invited me to attend an open mic and as a writer her invitation piqued my interest. I stepped into the venue not really knowing what to expect and definitely not prepared to sign up for the open mic. I sat … Continue reading (Thank You) Capicu Presents: The People’s Open Mic & the Letters to My Daughter Pre-Release
You are: in the strength of my bones in the curve of my muscles in the crown of my hair in the nape of my neck in the gentleness of my hands in the richness of my blood in the light of my shadow. No longer driven by the restless urge to create. Like nights, spent under Parisian skies viewing paintings at the Louvre. Bathing … Continue reading The Chosen (Part II)
A tree grows in Brooklyn and so did my dreams on the cracked asphalt of tenement building stoops a flower trying to break through but roses don’t bloom here that’s what I was told Never believing that I could ever see a world beyond my periphery struggling with tunnel vision I watch passersby and they watch me, holding my baby close, never expecting me … Continue reading Asphalt Dreams (on Palmetto Street)
nancy arroyo ruffin 