The Poet X

by Elizabeth Acevedo

And I think about all the things we could be if we were never told our bodies were not built for them.

the more I bruise the page the quicker something inside me heals.

How can I say things like that in front of strangers? In house stays in house, right? “Wrong,” Ms. Galiano tells me. She tells me words give people permission

to be their fullest self. And aren’t these the poems I’ve most needed to hear?

when we get together and talk about ourselves, about being human, about what hurts us, we’re also talking about God.

Ancestors: you crossed the harshest of waters / & waters & waters / & on the other side / still gasping / your breath / dreamt us / out of the tide / & we rise / because of / for you.