JUNE was a month of newness. While I was doing my fieldwork in Iquitos and Lima, Perú, life led me to the right time at the right place to meet everyone I needed at that time. So this poetry zine is dedicated to everyone I met in Perú while I did my work, learned the language, enjoyed the cuisine, and found a piece of my heart in such unexpected places.

JUNE was also a month of unlearning how to overly criticize myself. While growing up, I was always told to look at myself – at how much weight I gained, how I looked, and how I dressed. So I grew up with a painful sense of being negatively conscious about my body.

But I also always knew that I love to dance. So I hid every time I danced. I locked my doors, and closed my curtains. Because I was too afraid of being seen – perhaps I look ungraceful, uncoordinated, and just bit silly with even trying.

But working in Perú reawakened my longing to dance. The people I met, the songs, the dance, they all took me by the hand and my heart. This poetry zine also features some tango and milonga songs as my poem titles. I listened to the song, and wrote a poem of how the song meant to me if I were to dance with it.

Vamos a bailar con mis poemas: HUNYO.