*Yo y Mi Constant Internal Conversation

*I and my

My fear is that I am self-preoccupied.

I'm an introvert by definition.

Which means that most times I seek alone time to wrestle with thoughts, ideas, recall memories, create, interpret, and make connections.  

Julia de Burgos is the Puerto Rican poet I quote at the top of this blog.

Her famous poem A Julia de Burgos is just that, a conversation with the self she refuses to restrain. She and I, we share that battlefield.

These are a few verses from her famous poem A Julia de Burgos that help define me and  my work.

Ya las gentes murmuran que yo soy tu enemiga

porque dicen que en verso doy al mundo tu yo.

People now murmur that I am your enemy

For they claim that in verses

I reveal your essence to the world.

Tú eres fría muñeca de mentira social,

y yo, viril destello de la humana verdad.

You are the cold-blooded doll of social deceit,

And I, the virile splendor of human truth.

Tú eres solo la grave señora señorona;

yo no; yo soy la vida, la fuerza, la mujer.

You are merely the implacable, elegant lady;

Not I; I am life, I am strength, I am woman.

Tú te rizas el pelo y te pintas; yo no;

a mí me riza el viento; a mí me pinta el sol.

You curl your locks and paint yourself, not I;

I am curled by the wind; brightened by the sun.

Cuando las multitudes corran alborotadas

dejando atrás cenizas de injusticias quemadas,

y cuando con la tea de las siete virtudes,

tras los siete pecados, corran las multitudes,

contra ti, y contra todo lo injusto y lo inhumano,

yo iré en medio de ellas con la tea en la mano.

When the multitude uncontrolled runs,

The ashes of injustices, burnt, left behind,

And when with the torch of the seven virtues,

The throng to the seven sins gives chase,

I will be against you and against all

That is unjust and inhuman.

Upholding the torch... I shall be among the throng.