Status Updates From A Seed in the Sun

"Remember, mi'jas. We are migrant farmworkers.
Like seeds, we carry home in our bodies. Home is where we grow it, together."

"The words 'everyone is welcome'
land lightly
inside my lungs,
expands them and fills them
with the courage to speak up."

"My daydreams and la causa (the cause)
have come together to give me
a new thing
to dream
and be
someday."

"Papá almost always agrees with Rafa.
Though he isn't the oldest child,
Rafael is the oldest boy.
Rafa's boy words count more
than girl words in our family.

Rafael knows this and he tries
not to make us feel bad
but it still happens
and it snaps twigs of sadness
inside of me each time
Papá is so unfair."

"Papá is a cactus plant
Who lives in the harshest conditions
With a prickly shell
And a desert flower
Who blooms
Only once a year."