Melissa's award winning second book of poetry, CHINGONA RULES
is available at Finishing Line Press. Order NOW!
“For women, then, poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, than into idea, then into more tangible action. Poetry is the way we give name to the nameless so it can be thought. The farthest horizons of our hopes and fears are cobbled by our poems, carved from the rock experiences of our daily lives” - Audre Lorde
Selected Publications
“As I can Live.” Mondoweiss, March 25, 2024.
“#BoycottFlorida.” La Libreta, May 30, 2023. “January 6, 2021”; “This is not a poem about trauma” and “Not Another Love Poem.” La Libreta, Sept. 30, 2022. "Fourth of July” and “Yo Nací Aquí.” Antología Poética Vol 1, Feria Internacional Del Libro Ciudad de Nueva York, 2020. "I am Gloria." The Journal of Latina Critical Feminism, February 2020. "Toolkit." Riza Press, December 2019. "My body is a scar." Acentos Review, November 2019. "09.27.18." The Charles River Journal, January 2019. "She asks me how in 2018 there is a first Latinx anything?" and "Letter to the young black man who road the bus with me from Postdam NY to New York City." Acentos Review, November 2018. "Tu", "Cuando Sueño con Arizona", "Poem to the White Man who asks me after overhearing me speak Spanish where to find the best Mexican food and then is shocked to find out I am Mexican". Two Countries: U.S. Daughters and Sons of Immigrant Parents. Red Hen Press, October 2017. "All the presidents tweets, a collaboration with President Trump." Oddball Magazine, September 2017. "Limonada." Latin American Literary Review. 44(87): 67-72 (2017) “Are You Sure You are Ready to Be Mexican.” Pittsburgh Poetry Review. March 2016. “Poetry is my Revenge,” “Color Lines,” "Para las pochas pero locas: A tragicomedia punk poem" “The Tortilla Eaters.” Revolution John. Jan. 9, 2015. “The Lovers of the Poor.” Scapegoat Review. Winter 2015 “Zero.” Mojave River Press and Review. July 14, 2014. “El Paso, 1917”, “Frida.” Acentos Review. May 15, 2014. “Diagnosis,” “Unspeakables II.” Kalyani Magazine. Spring 2014. “Xochi Fields.” ellipsis… literature & art. April 2014. "Last Night/Anoche”, “A Coatlicue State”, “Salvador”, “La Ciudad”, “Another Elegy.” The Four Quarters Magazine. Dec. 2013 (India). "Unspeakable Silences", "When Poetry Ceases to be a Luxury", "Black Tulips", "My Eggs." PORTAL: Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies. Volume 10, No. 2 (2013): “Edible Alterities: Perspectives from La Francophonie.” "Poem to the Man who asks me after overhearing me speak Spanish where to find the best Mexican food and then is shocked to find out I am Mexican.” Huizache Magazine. Fall 2013. "Looking for Maud" and "Portrait of a Frida Kahlo on a Wallet." Hinchas de Poesia. March 2013. “Nevermind” and “Rupture.” Conveyor Magazine. Nov. 2011 "Cuando Sueño con Arizona." Off the Coast. Spring 2011. "La Facultad" and "Hispanics Threaten to Make America a Bilingual Country?" The Pacific Review. Spring 2011. "1968": Hispanic Culture Review. Spring 2011. "Tu": The Broad River Review. Spring 2011. Selected for La Bloga Feb. 2011. "Colima": Acentos Review. Feb. 2011. "The Memory of Family Lobster": 2Review View. 15.2 (Winter 2011). |
Available for Readings & Workshops"Ironically, my poetry developed during one of the worst moments of my life. After just one semester at Yale, I made the decision to take a leave of absence. Two months later, in April 2012 I was writing a poem a day for National Poetry Month and I was healing. One morning I woke up on my mother’s couch and breathed a sigh of relief. I sat in the darkness with Alice Walker, Audre Lorde, Gloria Anzaldúa. We watched the sun rise together. They told me I'm not crazy. My mother asked me, when did you become a poet? |