Mixed Nation

Diversity | Inclusion | Multiracial | Mixed Race |

Poetry

At-Risk Soul

Kaira Portillo

My soul senses collective emotional landscapes

sifting through centuries of consequences caused by colonization and slavery

the complex levels of trauma and healing are dizzying

the struggle seems stifling sometimes…

but thinking of  the next generations gives me fuel to survive & fight on

and I push myself, to remind myself: it’s all about balance!

Not one extreme or the other, not up or down, right or left,

but staying centered within oneself

only then can we feel the invisible spider web connecting us all

theory is easier than practice though

and inevitable clashes of emotions, thoughts, experience will persist

but when I feel something triggering me to explode

deep breaths are an oxygen mask for my at-risk soul.

 

Kaira Portillo

Kaira Portillo-Espinoza was born and raised in San Francisco, CA. She is grateful for having grown up around such a wide spectrum of diversity, which makes the Bay Area the unique place it is. Her first published book, Poems About This Roller-Coaster Ride Called Life, is a collection of poems she wrote throughout high school and college and explores issues of injustice, resistance, sexuality, and empowerment.