José Olivarez > Quotes

“I killed a plant once because I gave
it too much water. Lord, I worry
that love is violence.”
― José Olivarez, Citizen Illegal

“my parents are Mexican who are not
to be confused with Mexican Americans
or Chicanos.

i am a Chicano from Chicago
which means i am a Mexican American
with a fancy college degree & a few tattoos.

my parents are Mexican who are not
to be confused with Mexicans still living
in México. those Mexicans call themselves mexicanos.
white folks at parties call them pobrecitos.
American colleges call them international students & diverse.

my mom was white in México & my dad was mestizo
& after they crossed the border they became diverse. & minorities. & ethnic. & exotic.

but my parents call themselves mexicanos,
who, again, should not be confused for mexicanos
living in México. those mexicanos might call
my family gringos, which is the word my family calls
white folks & white folks call my parents interracial.
colleges say put them on a brochure.

my parents say que significa esa palabra.
i point out that all the men in my family
marry lighter-skinned women. that’s the Chicano
in me. which means it’s the fancy college degrees
in me, which is also diverse of me. everything in me
is diverse even when i eat American foods
like hamburgers, which, to clarify, are American
when a white person eats them & diverse
when my family eats them. so much of America
can be understood like this.”
― Josẽ Olivarez, Citizen Illegal

“I killed a plant once because I gave / it too much water. Lord, I worry / that love is violence.”
― José Olivarez, Citizen Illegal

“my enemies aren’t ugly-faced crooks, they don’t laugh
while innocent die.​ they point & say how
tragic then go home to pet their cute dogs.”
― José Olivarez, Citizen Illegal

“Poetry Is Not Therapy but that doesn’t mean i didn’t try it. god knows in those moments when it felt like my gut was being wrung like a wet rag, i wrote bad poem after bad poem. who cares? healing wasn’t the point. (healing is a capitalist pursuit) after my grandma died, i measured everything in distance: eight hundred miles from my parents. two thousand five hundred miles from where she was buried. do you understand what i’m saying? i’ll never close the distance. i wanted the hurting to stop. to write a poem i could hand all my friends asking me how i was doing. how am i doing? the distance between me & everyone i’ve lost grows by miles & years.”
― José Olivarez, Promises of Gold

“i should apologize–

it’s true my dad stopped hugging me,

but i never say the other part:

i stopped hugging him too.”
― José Olivarez, Promises of Gold

“i want a joy so fake it stains my insides &
never fades away”
― José Olivarez, Citizen Illegal

“one of those boy-man philosophers i kicked it with / gave me the following advice: no relationship / works between man & woman unless the man / is more yoked.”
― José Olivarez, Promises of Gold

“or am i trying to forget / the only lesson we are required to learn: / the first loss is not the last loss / & once the losing begins / it won't stop / until it has taken everything.”
― José Olivarez, Promises of Gold

“I killed a plant once because I gave it too much water. Lord, I worry that love is violence.”
― José Olivarez, Citizen Illegal

“Some Words Look Nice Until You Try Them On the children at the poor school were given encouraging posters. they were given uplifting talks. empowerment seminars. (they were not given money.) dear god, i’ll never understand how some people meet a drowning person & offer INSPIRATIONAL advice instead of offering a hand or rope.”
― José Olivarez, Promises of Gold

“I killed a house plant once because I gave it too much water. Lord, I worry that love is violence”
― José Olivarez, Citizen Illegal

“Ojalá: My Homie Oscar once saw someone get jumped for their shoes. we didn’t stop wanting Jordans. instead, we learned that if we ever had shoes worth robbing, it was better to hide them in our backpacks. dear god, this is how we learned to be boys: we kept everything we loved close by & out of sight.”
― José Olivarez, Promises of Gold

“I killed a plant once because I gave it too much water. Lord I worry that love is violence”
― José Olivarez

“I should apologize — it’s true my dad stopped hugging me, but I never say the other part: I stopped hugging him too.”
― José Olivarez, Promises of Gold

“Perder sidewalks lined with branches flashing scarlet buds & i want to know if it’s true—my grandma in the ground for a couple of years— is it long enough? is it her lipstick blushing the blooms of the trees? or am i trying to forget the only lesson we are required to learn: the first loss is not the last loss & once the losing begins it won’t stop until it has taken everything.”
― José Olivarez, Promises of Gold