Poetry Slam!

This past week I participated in my first poetry slam ever – which also happened to be in Spanish!

I consider myself to be pretty comfortable with speaking in front of large groups, especially compared to other people who feel sick just addressing a classroom. This, however, felt very far outside of my comfort zone; I am not the best with Spanish pronunciation, and I definitely do not consider myself a poet (or really any kind of quality creative writer). With a lot of support and editing help from my dear friends, I plucked up enough courage to read aloud to a room full of my incredibly accepting friends. It was incredibly scary and the poem is no where near perfect, but it is mine. Here is the poem (don’t worry: the English translation is after the link!)

quizás hay vida después de muerte
como las flores en el florero de mi madre
o un árbol que se transforma en un recipiente para palabras bonitas
o la forma en que las lágrimas puede convertirse a risa
si dependes de las personas adecuadas 

quizás el más viejo me pongo
menos voy a entender
acerca de cómo el gobierno podría castigar a mi papá
para querer dar al mundo todo
o cómo mi hermana se merece menos amor
para creer que Dios la ama como ella es
como nos enseñaron cuando niños 

¿qué felicidad no significa nada sin tristeza?
¿puede que no probar el dulce sin sabor amargo?
¿volvería te quiero menos
si no hay adiós? 

quizás vez todos estamos muriendo
aprender más y entender menos
pero me alegro de entender menos
si eso significa que consigo estar rodeado
por personas como ustedes

maybe there is life after death
like flowers in my mother’s vase
or a tree that is transformed into a vessel for beautiful words
or the way tears can turn into laughter
if you lean on the right people 

maybe the older i get
the less i will understand
about how the government could punish my dad
for wanting to give me the entire world
or how my sister deserves less love
for believing that God loves her the way she is
like we were taught as children 

does happiness means nothing without sadness?
can you not taste the sweet without ever tasting sour?
would i love you less
if there was no goodbye? 

maybe we are all dying
learning more and understanding less
but i am glad to understand less
if it means i get to be surrounded
by people like you