My partner is Ximena, and my found poem is inspired by a story she shared with me during our interview. Ximena told me since she was very young her father recited the poem Viajar by Gabriel García Márquez to her and her sister. It’s her favorite poem, and her father read it to her sister before she left to travel abroad and read it to Ximena before she moved to New York City. The poem is about traveling and leaping into the unknown. I fell in love with the poem after I read the English translation and decided to use it as inspiration for my found poem.

My source material for my found poem is a book my mother gave me a while ago: You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero. I chose to use this book because it has a similar message as Viajar; Sincero teaches the readers to force momentum by leaving their comfort zones and challenging their self-doubts. I cut out bits and pieces from You Are a Badass to recreate advice my mother has given me throughout the years.

I wanted the format of my found poem to be reminiscent of a traditional letter.