Women are enough. [updated]

The first woman listened to my tears.
The next one showed me how to fold my entire body into a story.
Beside her stood the woman who taught me to be fierce.
Number four showed me just how much I didn't know yet.
Then came the one who never stopped moving; I watched her dance.
The sixth woman made me work hard so that I knew that I could.
Yet another held magic between bristles of her paintbrush.
Number eight told me to scream.
And, I remember the one who made sure that I was heard.
The tenth, oh, they all did this: she told me that I was enough.

We are enough.

magnificence

dedicated to a friend. happy birthday, girl.

how do i
(just a dreamer)
convince you
that you are real

that your eyes light up
storms stitched of torment
that books blush
when you pick them up
that flowers watch you
like we watch stars in the sky
that we are waiting for you to fly
that we know you will

how do i
(with only words)
convince you
that you are a goddess

help you believe in your promise
you are magnificence, personified
crafted in layers of intellect and joy
uncertainty and mistakes
crafted into someone who has
wings, they are biding their time, waiting
to be unfurled

Cosas Que Los Americanos No Entienden (Things Americans Don't Understand) [updated]

Hay cosas que quiero gritar.
Quiero decirlo hasta que los techos
tiemblen arriba de las cabezas de los que no entienden.

There are things I want to scream

I want to say them until the roofs 

shake above the heads of those who do not understand.

No es todo comida y ropa colorada tan linda;
cosas que piensas que entiendas.
Mucho de allá no es bonito. Pero, es maravilloso.
Es todo mi familia y amor.
Es gente dándole todo cuando no tienen nada.

It's not all beautifully colored food and clothes;

things you think you understand.

A lot there isn't pretty. But, it's marvelous.

It is all of my family and love.

It's people giving everything when they have nothing.

Es otro mundo.
No estoy hablando
nada más de un diferente lugar o
idioma. Todo eso son distintos,
no quiero decir que no.

It's another world.

I'm not talking about

that it's just a different place or

language. Everything is different,

I don't want to say it's not.

Si tiempo es una pista en Los Estados,
en Panamá vivimos en un rio.
Solo puedes vivir.

If time is a highway in the United States,

in Panama we live in a river.

All we can do is live.

Hay días donde se mueve rápido,
pero en las mayorías de los casos-
no pasa así.

There are days that move quickly,

but in most cases,

it doesn't go like that.

No sabes cuándo van a regresar
cuando salen diciendo
- ¡voy a pasear! -

You don't know when they are going to come back

when they leave after saying,

"I'm going out*!"