Day 22: Power

Sometimes

life will try to take everything

away from you.

Sometimes,

it’ll feel successful.

But then you sit under the sun

with sunscreen seeping

and chlorine flooding your senses

and you realize that there are

moments

that life can’t take

or understand

or touch.

On a free day

You’ll take a drive in your car

and drink strawberry matcha

listening to a sad love song

and won’t think about heartache or

pain,

only about your now empty cup.

Some nights in bed

you’ll prop some pillows under your

back

and read a chapter of your

favorite book

with the moonlight seeping through

your curtains

and find yourself transported to

the cupboard under the stairs.

Most weekends,

you’ll sleep in late and wake up to

warmth

make a delicious, iced coffee and

watch that episode of your show

that you missed on Thursday night,

and you’ll relax and rest and reset

yourself from the week.

One day, your favorite music artist

will release their new album,

and you’ll stay up all night listening

to her words,

relating to them,

feeling them,

crying to them.

But those feelings don’t have the

power.

You do.

Those moments of life

pool days, strawberry matcha,

kindle dates, iced coffee, and album

releases

everything that is felt

seen

done

is power.

You are all that has happened to

you

and all that you choose to

celebrate.

I am the memories and moments

I hold the power.

About the Author

Kathryn Rosa, High school student & Somos Escritoras Alumna

Kathryn Rosa is a 2nd-grade teacher in Austin ISD. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2023 and grew up in the Rio Grande Valley. She likes to write, read, and watch movies in her free time. 

About the Blog Series

The #LatinaLuminaries Blog Series by Somos Escritoras. The series was created to illuminate the wisdom, experiences, voices, and truths of Latina women and girls and the broader Latinx community. The blog series features writing from escritoras (participants) and writing mentors from Somos Escritoras Latinx Writing Workshop. Published Latina authors, writers, poets, and illustrators who presented at our workshop also contributed to the blog series.