Iveliz Explains It All

Second Chances
Why is it that principals
love giving second chances? Love reminding me they were kids too?
Love acting like they’re doing me a favor,
doing my mom a favor,
by sitting me down all serious
and asking what they can do?

Well, guess what.
This is seventh grade now,
and I don’t need anyone’s help but my own.
I’ve moved on from everything
that happened,
I’ve made lists and I’ve made goals.
and if I’m in the principal’s office, you can 100% bet
that it wasn’t my fault.

Who Can You Trust?
If you ask my teachers,
they might say I’m a liar, because I always insist
things are not my fault.
And if you ask my mom,
she might say que soy una dramática,
’cause she used to sometimes think
my old panic attacks
were about getting attention and not an anxious brain response.
But, Journal,
don’t listen to them,
because these right here?
They’re my true inner thoughts.
And if you can’t trust a girl and her poems, well,
who CAN you trust?

Back It Up
Mami gave you to me last week-
hardcover, gold trim.
Like my Tik Tok wouldn’t be good enough
if I really wanted to speak.
She says it’s to encourage my “creativity.”…
Dizque pa ver if I can actually get some writing in.
But I know what it is, really.
Mimi (my abuelita) is coming real soon, and
Mami’s worried it’ll make me switch back.
Like my grandma will somehow
fly me through time,
before the pills and Dr. Turnip,
back when things were all out of whack.
P-o-r
f-a-v-o-r.
3
I’m twelve.
And Mimi has had Alzheimer’s forever-
I mean years and years.
I’m not gonna get a panic attack
just ’cause she forgets my name.