Happy Spring! I hope you’re enjoying April so far.
I write to you from a busy first quarter of 2025: from a residency in Washington state, to being sick with a cold for about a month, then two weeks in Los Angeles, a string of local artist’s events, my first full-length book’s release, spring break with family, and a family pet’s ascendance.
It was my 2nd AWP, Association of Writers & Writing Programs, but it was the 1st time having a shared booth with the folks at Kaya Press. Kaya Press invited Asian American publications, such as Sampaguita Press, to create a Scholastic Fair-esque corner dedicated to Asian American voices. It was amazing to have a space dedicated to As-Am voices, and to meet the folks, face to face, of other As-Am publications, such as slant’d, Asian American Writer’s Workshop, and of course, Kaya. I ended up working at the Sampaguita Press the majority of the time, but I was grateful to have attended 1 panel (with Rick Barot!) and to see faces I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to see.
It’s always a whirlwind in spring time for me (more so now that I participate in attending AWP): my sister’s birthday falls around this time and my cousins, near and far, from Los Angeles and Las Vegas, make their pilgrimage to San José to spend spring break with us. I’m close to my auntie and my baby cousins (I was 16 when the eldest was born, so I helped babysit and raise them until they moved away when I was in my 20s), so I feel weepy when they arrive and when they inevitably leave. I think of them when I write. I want them to know our family; I want them to know where they come from. And, I want them to know I’m excited to see where they go, what they explore, and who they become.
Spring was (still is I realize!) a season of transitions for our family as well, as our family dog, Pau, passed away a few weeks shy of her 14th birthday. She passed with us around her, holding her as she ascended, and while I mourn her (and feel her absence in our home), I’m at ease knowing we were able to be with her. She was a Gemini pug-chihuahua who loved to eat, so I’m extra glad she got to be a part of a Filipino family while she was earthside.
I’ve been struggling with the critical work of my master’s program, this beginning of the end. Such ill timing with the Trump Administration that I’m entering the final year of my master’s program (woe is the graduate student who is not wealthy). Pushing the worries of my student loans aside, I’m beginning the end of this academic journey with much needed help.
I’m grateful to have these same handful of folks pouring time and care to support my writing. My partner stays on FaceTime with me while I read and write. My best friends in my cohort, Milo and Kerry, also stay on FaceTime and work on their own assignments while I do mine. It’s in this gentle love that I find peace in spring. In a conversation with Milo and Kerry, we talked about love. How love is more than romantic, and how love can, and should, be shared with all of those you love. And instead of finding my need a nuisance, these people, who I love and who love me, sit with me across hundreds of miles to make sure my work is completed.
And with that, I hope this spring, if you haven’t already, that you sit with your loved ones. That you look at the blooming flowers and offer each other tissues if the pollen gives them allergies. Peel them the orange. Rest your head on each other’s shoulders. We only have each other, like this, while we’re on earth.
Hold your hands out with love.
Updates;
Where to buy my books:
You can purchase The Language of Unbreaking, my first full-length poetry collection with Sampaguita Press from Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.
You can purchase my chapbook, In Defense Of, from Amazon, or if you send me a screenshot of a donation of at least $5 USD to a relief fund, GoFundMe, or organization of your choice, I will mail a copy to you free (within the stolen lands of Turtle Island, or unceded lands of the United States of America).
What I’m reading:
Tabako on the Windowsill by Hari Alluri
Jailbreak of Sparrows: Poems by Martín Espada
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver,
among others!
What I’m writing:
attempting a poem a day for National Poetry Month
a bunch of critical response essays…
What I’m listening to:
American Idiot (20th Anniversary Edition) by Green Day
What I’m watching:
Kidou Senshi Gundam: GQuuuuuuX