To Lucho

I didn’t think I’d ever share this piece of writing, but this community feels safe enough to do so. So before anything, I’d like to thank you for being here and reading WAVES. This is an essay I wrote when someone who had deeply impacted my life and writing died in April 2020. It is a piece that is both loving and angry, scared and hopeful- feelings I still feel today when I look at the world. It reminds me of the old me, who was angry at the world and couldn’t find the answers, it reminds me of how I got here, of why I write about poetic antidotes, and why I centre joy, care, and emotions in my writing about justice. Tomorrow would have been his birthday, and I wanted to share with you an intimate piece of my story, so that you may understand where my writing comes from even more. 🧡