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Rough Draft TX Team

The Personhood Project Episode 3: Tomás Q. Morín

In this episode, host, Aaron Tyler Hand is joined by the amazing poet and author of a brand new memoir, Tomás Q. Morín. They discuss the differences in writing poet and nonfiction, with close examination on how each can help a writer find personal growth in their own unique ways. (NOTE: We apologize for any disruptive background noise, we did our best to edit it out).





Tomás Q. Morín

Retaining your humanity is so hard to do when the system is set up to take it from you.

Poems:


Untitled


welcome to my room

where the conversation

is mad rich

sometimes too intense

just from our words

our bodies be gasping

tingling off the incense

oh mixed with the wine

called Aladdin’s Compassion

Jasmine’s

the last of the ratchets

I take the time to tease your body

as if I found me a bad riff

you’re God’s gift

to me especially

beautiful with a complexion

that say come and devour me

for hours

we spend talking on the phone

oh the sweet and sour, oh please

fly a kite with me

away in the open seas

the only thing that i see

is me

when you’re staring back

and I speak

boom boom baby



Aaliyah


3 years you been in my life

Your mother is my beautiful wife

1 year I spent it in jail

Writing and drawing so I can get mail

I sit in my bunk and daydream of DisneyLand

A place that we can run and play

Especially on a day like your birthday

Because birthdays only come once a year

Some bring joy long with the occasional happy tear

A time together that has been well spent

Wishing and dreaming of this joyous event

Until then my sweet daughter all my love has been sent



I Remember


I remember the walks on the beach

As we talk on your island

Ancient salty air breathing through your hair


I remember the moon glimmering on your nose

As we walk out of the theater

Where i massaged your feet

Watching a movie, savoring your body heat


I remember when we thought our backs would break

Carrying boxes up the stairs to our new apartment

College freshman newly wed

To a marriage that now is dead


I remember sitting on couches facing across

Your eyes dried from old tears

Finished with the lies

As we said our goodbyes


I remember



Aztec Skin


Light brown w/ Aztec blood, mix with Mestizo love

Full of mexican pride

With tattoos going up and down

And side to side

A smile that attracts people

From all around

As I walk with my head up high

On this cherished ground

Scared in my head, never forget

them memories

Like my ancestors who fought battles

w/ their bitter enemies



Faces


Faces haunt me

I sleep in a wake of insomnia

They stab at me and haunt me

My childhood taken

And exploited to mold

The deep life I’ve tried

To truly live

And find my soul

Around the world

I’ve been

Now in my hands I hold

What’s left of a heart

And a life I loath

Though I do not know the meaning

I continue to try at love

My kids I provide for

Stranded from the man above

Without life, without love

I’d be nothing but dust

But my faith remains

In a man called God

That’s a must



Writing Prompts:

  1. In For My Daughter, Tomás writes about an imagined situation where he gets to meet the child that he was never able to have. In the poem, he creates a whole world where they are able to be together. Think of someone you wish you could spend some time with. Write a poem about what that moment would be like. Be specific about what you two would do or where you’d be.

  2. Tomás Q. Morín opens himself up completely in Machete. He invites the reader to try and understand what it is like to walk around as a Hispanic person in a predominantly white country. Write a poem about what it is like for you to walk around in your skin. Make it clear so that someone who might not have the same experiences as you can gain a better understanding of you.


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