Soy boricua. In spite of my family and in spite of my country—I’m writing
the process of the Puerto Rican mind—taking it out of context—as a native
and a foreigner—expressing it through Spanish, Spanglish, and
English—Independencia, Estado Libre Asociado, and Estadidad—from the
position of a nation, a colony, and a state—Wishy, Wishy-Washy, and

If I respected languages like you do, I wouldn’t write at all. El muro de
Berlín fue derribado. Why can’t I do the same. Desde la torre de Babel, las
lenguas han sido siempre una forma de divorciarnos del resto de la
humanidad. Poetry must find ways of breaking distance. I’m not reducing
my audience. On the contrary, I’m going to have a bigger audience with the