Each year, the Youth Programs team publishes an anthology of the student work created in Writers in the Schools residencies. The team chooses a title for the anthology from one of the student poems published in the book. This year, that poem is “What Do I Want? / ¿Qué Quiero?” by Gisselle Uc. You can read it right here.
The anthology will be available for sale after its launch at the 2025 Portland Book Festival on Saturday, November 8.
¿Qué Quiero? by Gisselle Uc
Quiero escribir
Y escribir y escribir,
Perderme, borrar,
Corregir, llorar, sonreír,
Pensar, cuestionar, respirar,
Caminar, compartir, sentir,
Saber y vivir.
Quiero llenar páginas de vida,
Llenar de letras sin sentido
Éste vacío,
Llenarme de saber, frases,
Palabras desconocidas.
Quiero caminar por senderos que yo haya hecho,
Compartir mis momentos tristes,
Y mi felicidad tan fugaz,
Quiero guardarla siempre,
Aferrarme a ella, que se quede,
Que no huya, que se esté conmigo.
Porque al final del día,
Tengo miedo de estar sola,
Tengo miedo de mi misma,
Y no me detengo, sigo avanzando.
Y lloro pero aún no deshecho
Mi último aliento,
Y siento,
Y qué mal me siento a veces
Pero siento y soy humano
Pero siento y me permito sentir
Pero siento y está bien.
Y me cuestiono y pienso mucho
¿Por qué?, mi pregunta favorita,
Y me mata el no saber, pero qué triste,
Es saber algunas cosas.
Respiro y me detengo
Y admiro cuánto he caminado
Me felicito, pues al menos he avanzado
Aunque sea muy lento.
Y sigo caminando,
Y me pierdo,
Y camino más,
Y descubro más.
Y vivo,
Y vivo,
¿Y vivo?
¿Cómo vivo?
Con todo esto vivo
Y tal vez no sea tan malo.
Solo tal vez.
What Do I Want?
I want to write
And write and write,
Lose myself, erase,
Correct, cry, smile,
Think, question, breathe,
Walk, share, feel,
Know and live.
I want to fill pages with life,
Fill them with meaningless letters
This emptiness,
Fill myself with knowledge, phrases,
Unknown words.
I want to walk paths I’ve made,
Share my sad moments,
And my fleeting happiness,
I want to keep it forever,
Cling to it, let it stay,
Not let it run away, but to stay with me.
Because at the end of the day,
I’m afraid of being alone,
I’m afraid of myself,
And I don’t stop, I keep moving forward.
And I cry but still haven’t undone
My last breath,
And I feel,
And how badly I feel sometimes,
But I feel and I’m human,
But I feel and I allow myself to feel,
But I feel and it’s okay.
And I question myself and think a lot,
Why? My favorite question,
And it kills me not knowing, but how sad
It is to know some things.
I breathe and stop,
And admire how far I’ve come,
I congratulate myself, for at least I’ve advanced,
Even if it’s very slow.
And I keep walking,
And I get lost,
And I walk more,
And I discover more.
And I live,
And I live,
And do I live?
How do I live?
With all this, I live,
And maybe it’s not so bad.
Just maybe.
