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Tesoro
Tesoro is a story of family, survival, and the formative power of the women in Salgado’s life. It is a telling of the balance between love and perseverance. Tesoro is an unearthing of the sacred connections that make a person whole; the treasure we forever keep with us when we learn from those we love, when we mourn those we’ve lost, and what grows in between.
106 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
December 30, 2020
Gorgeous poetry! Full of heart and soul...empowerment, culture, family, and heartbreak. I absolutely loved this book. I have to go back and read through again. Definitely going to check out her other books.
April 14, 2023
I am a brown woman who writes poetry about her brown life. I read it out loud and my accent curls the corners of my words. I am made of two languages coiled into the braid of my tongue. I belong to this country and to the one who birthed my mother. I write the coffee-stained edges of my world. the soft caramel of my grandmother. the hazelnut of my sisters. the cinnamon skin of the man I love. I am built of colors. I have named them holy and they each bring the poems to me. look at the cursive of my flesh. it is how the stories arrive. it is how they leave. with me. intact. inseparable. complete.
April 29, 2020
This collection from Yesika was my least favorite of her 3 books, but it was still good. I read her books out of the published order & went back after reading “Hermosa” to read this. I just felt like with this collection, a lot of the poems were a bit too “listy”. I definitely love more descriptive poetry rather than just
pieces that are like “Your hands/my body/your car/I’m young/we drive fast”, etc... But alas! I am no poetry critic! This was a good read & I enjoyed a few specific pieces that were a lot more descriptive & honest. I really do appreciate any work I read from Salgado because she speaks on a lot of topics I don’t read about from other poets. She speaks on being latinx, her experience as a brown woman, her experience as a fat woman, as well as love & family. This collection specifically was more about her upbringing, youth, family, heritage, death, family trauma/stories passed down to her, etc. I think she’s very talented & am excited to read more poetry from her in the future.
pieces that are like “Your hands/my body/your car/I’m young/we drive fast”, etc... But alas! I am no poetry critic! This was a good read & I enjoyed a few specific pieces that were a lot more descriptive & honest. I really do appreciate any work I read from Salgado because she speaks on a lot of topics I don’t read about from other poets. She speaks on being latinx, her experience as a brown woman, her experience as a fat woman, as well as love & family. This collection specifically was more about her upbringing, youth, family, heritage, death, family trauma/stories passed down to her, etc. I think she’s very talented & am excited to read more poetry from her in the future.
December 24, 2021
Discovered this book at my local Library, and am so happy I did. 💕 I couldn't put it down. The emphasis on family, love, and culture -written trough Yesikas beautiful poems; was just what I needed.
September 4, 2022
Yesika Salgado single-handedly turned me into a poetry girly. 😌
I nodded, I oof’d, I laughed, I cried, I found respect and appreciation, I found myself and the women in my life inside this short collection. I didn’t know how much I needed someone to validate my experiences as a Latina living in the US this much, but I feel my heart heal a little more each time I read something I can finally see myself in. And not only that, but the poems themselves are stunning. ❤️
I nodded, I oof’d, I laughed, I cried, I found respect and appreciation, I found myself and the women in my life inside this short collection. I didn’t know how much I needed someone to validate my experiences as a Latina living in the US this much, but I feel my heart heal a little more each time I read something I can finally see myself in. And not only that, but the poems themselves are stunning. ❤️
January 23, 2019
It's incredible how delicately yet poignantly she can capture so much about growing up Latina in the States. Gorgeous read.
December 31, 2023
Honestly I was a bit nervous to read a book of poems. Yesika's beautiful style of writing, straight from her heart, is amazing. The power of women, what women go through in relationships, family dynamics, all so relatable. I thoroughly enjoyed!
November 26, 2018
There is something special to read a book and feel like one of your friends is writing it. That's the feeling I got from reading this book. The poems, even if they resonated with me or not, still spoke of an experience that feels familiar. Yesika Salgado is paving the way for more poets of color. I though the content itself touched on important themes of culture, identity, family, sexuality, and love through the eyes of a Salvadorian woman. Worth the read if you want to explore these themes and just have a nice time feeling nostalgic for memories that aren't exactly yours but feel familiar.
July 9, 2021
"...in our family / grandmothers are god / you come to them with hands extended / thankful and in awe / they survive all / become the only constant / the compass of our entire tribe..."
some of my favorite poems were the women, excuses, in our family, las locas, san vicente, el salvador, the funeral, tesoro, knives, and again the whole damn thing!
some of my favorite poems were the women, excuses, in our family, las locas, san vicente, el salvador, the funeral, tesoro, knives, and again the whole damn thing!
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January 22, 2019
Beautiful...
I don't typically read books of poetry, but this was recommended to me by a friend. As a first generation Latin-American woman, I found so much of Yesika's writing entirely relatable. I found myself sharing poem after poem with my girlfriends and saying, "Ok, ok, but really, this is the last one." She writes so honestly and with such vulnerability that it captivates the reader. I would absolutely recommend.
I don't typically read books of poetry, but this was recommended to me by a friend. As a first generation Latin-American woman, I found so much of Yesika's writing entirely relatable. I found myself sharing poem after poem with my girlfriends and saying, "Ok, ok, but really, this is the last one." She writes so honestly and with such vulnerability that it captivates the reader. I would absolutely recommend.
December 30, 2024
Favourite poems below:
I write best when I write from grief
« X »
I still don’t know
how to look at your skin
without thinking
I’ve been there before
« She names you Corazon »
[…]
She says she experiences everything twice, even love. first in one language then another. you forget which one comes first. when you make love you search for words you haven’t said since childhood.
« The Therapist »
[…]
we’ve had to learn to be mean. to be sharp tongue and sharper teeth. I wasn’t born tough. I was soft a long time. but I did inherit a mouth that never stops. I can talk my way out of any room, into any heart. what to do with this kind of power? how to keep it from going bad? every day I wake up, I say to myself, be good. be good. be good. sometimes I’m not and I think about it for weeks.
« I love you »
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. did I tell you that the last thing I told my father was I love you? well, the last thing I told him when he was conscious was I love you. the last thing I told him while he was on the respirator was it’s okay to leave, I love you. I text you this morning about the tv show we both love, I love you. I text you this afternoon about the email I owe you, I love you. I called you to tell you I was running late, I love you. I was leaving the room, I love you. I bumped into you at the supermarket, I love you. I thought of you at 3 pm, I love you. if there is anything you know for certain in this world. every day. all the time. I love you.
I write best when I write from grief
« X »
I still don’t know
how to look at your skin
without thinking
I’ve been there before
« She names you Corazon »
[…]
She says she experiences everything twice, even love. first in one language then another. you forget which one comes first. when you make love you search for words you haven’t said since childhood.
« The Therapist »
[…]
we’ve had to learn to be mean. to be sharp tongue and sharper teeth. I wasn’t born tough. I was soft a long time. but I did inherit a mouth that never stops. I can talk my way out of any room, into any heart. what to do with this kind of power? how to keep it from going bad? every day I wake up, I say to myself, be good. be good. be good. sometimes I’m not and I think about it for weeks.
« I love you »
I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. did I tell you that the last thing I told my father was I love you? well, the last thing I told him when he was conscious was I love you. the last thing I told him while he was on the respirator was it’s okay to leave, I love you. I text you this morning about the tv show we both love, I love you. I text you this afternoon about the email I owe you, I love you. I called you to tell you I was running late, I love you. I was leaving the room, I love you. I bumped into you at the supermarket, I love you. I thought of you at 3 pm, I love you. if there is anything you know for certain in this world. every day. all the time. I love you.
October 31, 2021
Poet Yesika Salgado once again surprises and captivates me with the pieces from her 2018 collection, "Tesoro". While Salgado states that her poetry is about herself, she shares a lot about other women in her life. A piece that stood out to me regarding the other women in her life was "Las Locas", in which she regales the stories of what her female relatives have done that would be considered "crazy". The real part that is fascinating to me is how she ends the piece, in italic lines that say, "tell me about that time again / where you were free, / when you made a mess, / and were forgiven / the way we forgive the men". I believe that this moment and similar ones held throughout the collection really connect the idea of celebrating, loving, and centering women while acknowledging how men affect our lives and our relationships with them, with other people, and even with ourselves in material and mental ways. In relation to her earlier collection, "Corazón" (2017), I feel that, by doing this, she casts a wider net this time by speaking to this subject through the experiences of women who affected her, which I really admire. Overall, Yesika Salgado's "Tesoro" is a beautiful reflection on womanhood, both its struggles and its joy. I am looking forward to reading her 2019 collection, "Hermosa".
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2023
3 stars
I feel like Salgado's poetry is the middle of a Venn diagram between Insta poetry and slam poetry. Which—from me at least—is not a compliment. But there were a few standout poems that avoided the tropes typical of those genres of poetry, and I still appreciated the collection as a whole. The poems about her complicated relationship with her father/his memory & legacy and the poems about womanhood in her heritage were perhaps the most moving. The love poems did not work as well for me.
I feel like Salgado's poetry is the middle of a Venn diagram between Insta poetry and slam poetry. Which—from me at least—is not a compliment. But there were a few standout poems that avoided the tropes typical of those genres of poetry, and I still appreciated the collection as a whole. The poems about her complicated relationship with her father/his memory & legacy and the poems about womanhood in her heritage were perhaps the most moving. The love poems did not work as well for me.
December 6, 2021
Utmost respect to this Salvadoran Queen. One of my favorite poetry books that I consider a classic. Tesoro is about family, perseverance, heartbreak, death, the treasure we forever keep with us when we learn from those we love. So many heart wrenching poems that left a lasting impression. These are my most favorites:
🌿Polaroid
🌿Terremotos
🌿Mami’s Cooking
🌿Las Locas
🌿At my Funeral
The Therapist
I asked my therapist if everyone had to work this hard to be a good person. if everyone else felt this exhausted all the time.
she looked at me like she wanted to cry.
I sighed. she was a young white woman who moved here from a quiet white town. people like her don’t ask themselves if they’re good. they don’t ask themselves anything about themselves. they just go on living.
brown women, we’ve had to learn to be mean. to be sharp tongue and sharper teeth. I wasn’t born tough. I was soft a long time. but I did inherit a mouth that never stops. I can talk my way out of any room, into any heart. what to do with this kind of power? how to keep it from going bad? every day I wake up, I say to myself, 𝒷𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹. 𝒷𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹. 𝒷𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹. sometimes I’m not and I think about it for weeks.
the woman is confused.
I stop trying to explain. I think of my tías and mami. their gossip at the table as a means to survival. 𝒷𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝑒𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝒾𝓂. 𝒹𝑜𝓃’𝓉 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒽𝑒𝓇, 𝒹𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉... we are used to having things taken from us. we turn to our words. words that say too much. I am too much. all the time. it is a blessing. it is a curse.
the therapist nods.
🌿Polaroid
🌿Terremotos
🌿Mami’s Cooking
🌿Las Locas
🌿At my Funeral
The Therapist
I asked my therapist if everyone had to work this hard to be a good person. if everyone else felt this exhausted all the time.
she looked at me like she wanted to cry.
I sighed. she was a young white woman who moved here from a quiet white town. people like her don’t ask themselves if they’re good. they don’t ask themselves anything about themselves. they just go on living.
brown women, we’ve had to learn to be mean. to be sharp tongue and sharper teeth. I wasn’t born tough. I was soft a long time. but I did inherit a mouth that never stops. I can talk my way out of any room, into any heart. what to do with this kind of power? how to keep it from going bad? every day I wake up, I say to myself, 𝒷𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹. 𝒷𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹. 𝒷𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹. sometimes I’m not and I think about it for weeks.
the woman is confused.
I stop trying to explain. I think of my tías and mami. their gossip at the table as a means to survival. 𝒷𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝑒𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝒾𝓂. 𝒹𝑜𝓃’𝓉 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒽𝑒𝓇, 𝒹𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉... we are used to having things taken from us. we turn to our words. words that say too much. I am too much. all the time. it is a blessing. it is a curse.
the therapist nods.
March 3, 2024
Yesika Salgado's poetry collections bring me closer to a Hispanic/Latine experience I feel so severed from even though she's Salvadoran and I'm Mexican, she's brown and I'm white (or an olive-tinted type of white). Even when I have to Google translate 1/4th of the Spanish words I read. I enjoyed this less than Corazón (I also rated 4 stars) but still feel it deserves more than 3 stars so here I am.
"mami keeps all my baby teeth in a small jar tucked in her closet. same place she keeps my father's gold. my grandmother's jewelry. everything I grew inside me when my only language was Spanish. when I spit out because I was told to. told something new was coming. something permanent. more me. but my teeth are still here. shake the jar and they will rattle. if you love me, even a little, I will call you corazón. small and pretty. like the first tooth my father pulled out of me. look at it. aqui esta. es mio. yo lo creci. aqui dentro de mi."
I'd quote "She Names You Corazón", "The Therapist", "Knives", and "La Tía" but it'd be a lot to try to fit all that poetry into something someone would wanna read in a review, so just mentally note those titles if you ever read this.
"our love eventually runs out / I don't imagine my funeral anymore /
I do imagine you coming back / the illness changes its name"
"mami keeps all my baby teeth in a small jar tucked in her closet. same place she keeps my father's gold. my grandmother's jewelry. everything I grew inside me when my only language was Spanish. when I spit out because I was told to. told something new was coming. something permanent. more me. but my teeth are still here. shake the jar and they will rattle. if you love me, even a little, I will call you corazón. small and pretty. like the first tooth my father pulled out of me. look at it. aqui esta. es mio. yo lo creci. aqui dentro de mi."
I'd quote "She Names You Corazón", "The Therapist", "Knives", and "La Tía" but it'd be a lot to try to fit all that poetry into something someone would wanna read in a review, so just mentally note those titles if you ever read this.
"our love eventually runs out / I don't imagine my funeral anymore /
I do imagine you coming back / the illness changes its name"
September 1, 2020
Another lovely and powerful collection from Yesika Salgado. It touches on a lot of the same themes that Corazón did, while also building out, going deeper, and digging down further. Salgado’s poems are striking for their honesty, their willingness to make the reader sit in discomfort, or feel her pain transmitted through her words. There are short and simple pieces that are clearly very raw and written in a particular moment, while others are languid and paint a more detailed picture. Makes for an engaging and varied reading experience.
Very glad I picked up all three of her books at once, and I have Hermosa next on my pile.
Very glad I picked up all three of her books at once, and I have Hermosa next on my pile.
December 11, 2024
A collection of poems about family, identity, the body, love, and desire.
from Excuses: "I would ask what was wrong / and he would / I didn't deserve to know // and this is manhood, isn't it? // and being a woman / is being an apology, right? / isn't it being the other cheek?"
from First Kiss: "I smiled / but it wasn't a real smile / more like something to fill the space between us"
from Survival Tactics: "white man is already colonizing / teaching me he is God, / I don't know better / it's his job to show me / after all I am brown / meant to be walked on / like soil / hands / backs"
from Excuses: "I would ask what was wrong / and he would / I didn't deserve to know // and this is manhood, isn't it? // and being a woman / is being an apology, right? / isn't it being the other cheek?"
from First Kiss: "I smiled / but it wasn't a real smile / more like something to fill the space between us"
from Survival Tactics: "white man is already colonizing / teaching me he is God, / I don't know better / it's his job to show me / after all I am brown / meant to be walked on / like soil / hands / backs"
October 9, 2019
Yesika Salgado definitely has a soft spot in my heart. Being Latinx, I find myself extremely connected to Yesika, not only culturally but also with the experiences she has faced. I got to see her read her poems @ Los Angeles Libros Festival, where she moved the entire room with the intensity & power of her words. She shows so much vulnerability through every poem written by her. Pick up her poem books if you haven’t yet, son un Tesoro.
July 15, 2019
I bought the kindle version of this book and didn’t realize how quickly I’d devour this book. There’s so much in here that I resonated with. My family also is Salvadoran and had similar experiences with acculturation and trauma that was presented so beautifully in this book. I shed a tear when it was done out of appreciation for Yesika. Definitely a beautiful read!
September 8, 2021
I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH. Tesoro is heavenly. Reading through this collection of poetry was like swimming through the breeze of Salgado's mind. The poems are heartbreaking, healing, uplifting, and visceral. I would recommend this book to any poetry lover, and I definitely want to read Salgado's other collections.
November 16, 2023
"I am only a picture on a website
only a name on a direct message
a profile description that says I am Salvadoran
and only date men of color
meaning,
I can only love you
to find breath in someone
that understand the suffocation
meaning, I can only love somebody
that doesn't look like
what took everything
meaning,
I am only willing to love
my reflection"
only a name on a direct message
a profile description that says I am Salvadoran
and only date men of color
meaning,
I can only love you
to find breath in someone
that understand the suffocation
meaning, I can only love somebody
that doesn't look like
what took everything
meaning,
I am only willing to love
my reflection"
June 8, 2024
Salgado writes lines I wish I had come up with. She writes on intense subjects with such a gentle touch you don’t realize you’re casually following the footsteps of trauma. It’s not all sad though, there’s some sweet pieces too. I had to get my friend to translate the Spanish parts. I love when authors write in two languages like one language isn’t enough to hold their thought or emotion.
November 25, 2018
I really enjoyed this. Not as much as her first book, but it was a good experience. My only complaint would be is that while reading one poem or another, it felt like I had read it in her previous book. I'm not sure it just felt really familiar.
January 16, 2019
Yet again Yesika comes with the real homegirl feels. I love how much Spanglish is used it spoke to my soul. I love her raw honesty and truths growing up in a latinx family and community while navigating living and loving and just celebrating self-care and self-love.
September 1, 2019
Yesika writes so beautifully. Although I am Not Salvadoran, the memories of her mami and tias remind me of my own Latina mother. I cried reading several poems, especially those of loving yourself as a fat womxn and as a survivor or sexual violence.
April 4, 2020
Miss Yesika Salgado is truly heroic. She has created a voice for all of the Fat Salvi Fly Girls!! I love her work so much. It's accessible to all. It's honest. She is charming and funny. I would definitely recommend her!
January 12, 2021
I felt like Yesika was reading the poems out loud. I appreciate Not a Cult for publishing this book of poetry. My family is from El Salvador, & I live in LA, so it's wonderful to read a book of poetry by someone with similar experiences. I look forward to reading more of Yesika's books.
April 1, 2021
It was very refreshing to read a work such as this one, by a millennial LatinX/é poet. This book brought back so many memories of my own childhood, family dynamics, latino cultural norms, and early feelings of love that I experienced in my teens and adult life. Loved it. Yesika is a light. ☀️
June 28, 2022
Yesika Salgado knows how to write a good poem. My parents are also from El Salvador and the author just knew how to tie up the words I haven’t been able to express myself, it’s amazing and I loved Tesoro so very much.
February 2, 2019
Looove that Salgado was so unapologetic and willing to share her life, language and culture with her readers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews