Most Precious Journey / First place in Miami Dade Poetry Contest :)

Is this a book already written?
What I went through is now somebody's burden.
It's hard. I won't lie;
and it gives you two choices: To fight or cry!
I chose to fight, and now I see that this is the land where I'm supposed to be.
It might be destiny, or a plan;
a plan from the sweetest hands ever known to man.
The hands of the writer that chose his characters from all over the world.
And invited us to journey, a journey where we will meet our goals.
USA, land of opportunities where in other places people only dream about.
Soil, participant to our needs.
Air that lets us breath;
lets us breath in peace.
USA battlefield! Is where we learn that there is more than what we already know.
Different morals, different believes,
different ideas that can be mixed.
Learning about each other, we all become one.
Before we were strangers; now we hold hands.
And we fight for the same reasons:
Our freedom, our honor, and our rights.

Author: Nerea Duran.

Graffiti Artist

I never understood graffiti artist. Without any permition, they go around the city painting on walls and traffic signs. One day, I was walking back home from the supermaket when I saw one of these individuals painting on the wall of a shoe store next to my house. "Hey you!", I yelled. And that was the beginning of a very informative conversation. I asked him why he like to vandalize the city. He responded, "I do not do it to vandalize the city as you put it." Apparently he does it because of the rush it gives him, the vanity it brings, and the love for art.
Some people are addictive to cigarettes; others to alcohol. This boy is addictive to the feeling of getting detain for doing something he is not supposed to. He always comes back to the streets to get his daily dose of adrenaline.
This individual proved to me that women are not the only ones full with vanity. The graffiti artist told me that it gives him pleasure when someone recognizes his signature on the streets. It fills him up with pride, and gives him motivation to practice more and to become a better artist.
The boy told me that graffiti is not only writting your name on every wall you see. This type of artists also paint beautiful images. "It takes a lot of work and dedication," he said.
I have a new prespective for graffiti artists. Even thought I still think it's wrong to paint on walls without permition, I don't judge them anymore. What do you think?

Tu Mirada (spanish poetry)

Por que me miras asi!?
Para quitarme la calma?!
Por que cada vez que me miras mi corazon salta.
Y te vuelvo a recordar,
Aunque se que me hace mal.
Con tan solo una mirada,
Despues de cien negadas,
Has vuelto hacer que mi corazon lata por ti.
Y eso me enoja.
Por que se que tu no sientes lo mismo por mi.

Que Facil Es Escribirte (spanish poetry)

En un poquito de tiempo,
Te podria escribir cien poemas.
Tan solo cojiendo mi lapiz,
Y escuchando lo que mi corazon te quiere decir.
Lo que no le permito que te diga.
Y se desahoga en un papel,
escribiendo todo lo que siente,
con la esperanza de que algun dia tu lo puedas leer.
Pero yo no lo permito,
Por que se que es en vano
el decirte:
Cuanto you te amo.

Spanish Poetry.

Me ve y sonrie,
Y se que por mi el vive.
Y en su risa encuentro paz,
Y muchas cosas mas.
Si el supiera que el es mi cura,
y mi unica esperanza.
Si el supiera que mi corazon en el descansa.
Aguanta un poco mas,
Y ya veras,
Que hasta el din de mis dias te voy a amar.

We All Need To Evolve / First Place in an essay contest in Miami Dade :)

Living in Florida, it is easy to find people with stories of how they came to the United States of America empty handed and worked their way up by getting an education. I, like many of those people, migrated to this Country with those same empty hands, but my story is different. When I arrived to the USA, I was devastated. I was ten years old when my mother snatched me from the life I had in my own country, Spain. I was forced to leave everything that mattered to me; my family, my friends, Zar, my dog. Consequently, when I arrived here, I was not about to evolve as a person or let go of my little mindedness anytime soon. I spent most of my time cutting class, abusing the use of alcohol, and blaming everyone for my failures. Instead of moving foward, I was walking backwards.
Because I was cutting class so much, my mother became disappointed. She expected me to take advantage of the chance she did not get when she was a young lady. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jimenez, did not give her the opportunity to go to school because they were very poor. Her biggest dream was that I could go to college so that I may have a better life style; but I did not see it that way at that moment. I was blind by sadness.
As I grew up and became a teenager, instead of grabbing books, I was grabbing bad habits. Looking for myself, I started abusing the use of alcohol. One glass of vodka turned into two, and two turned into three until I lost myself in the dark world of alcohol and drugs. The last thing in my mind was school. Little did I know of the surprise that the future had for me.
Meanwhile, I became a bitter person. I was lost; I did not know who I was anymore or why I was placed in this earth. I was bored of life and blamed everyone for my mistakes. Until one hot sunny afternoon, I decided to go to the beach and let the powerful sound of the waves take my stress away to the bottom of the ocean. I laid down on the sand and as the rays of the sun forced my eyes to be closed, it suddenly hit me; the light bull in my head turned on. "If there is something that can take me out of this misery is knowledge," I thought to myself.
I walked home that day pleased of my discovery. The next day, I registered in Miami Dade Community College. Three years have passed since then, and I'm a different person now. I was right; knowledge was my salvation! As I let go of my little mindedness, I realize that the world is a beautiful and extremely interesting place. There are so many things to learn and so little time to waste, that my only regret is not to have registered sooner.


Author: Nerea Duran

Inesplicable (spanish poetry)

Por que te quiero como te quiero?
Por que te anelo mas que a nadie?
Si tu eres mi perdicion!
Como algo que amo tanto,
me podria causar tanto dolor?
Como esos ojos en los que me pierdo cada vez que los veo por casualidad,
me pueden hacer tanto mal?!
Esos ojos marrones que hacen brillar a los mios,
Esos ojos marrones que me hacen so~nar,
Esos ojos marrones que me hacen temblar,
Esos ojos marrones que nunca voy a olvidar.

Perdoname! (Espiritual)

Dios perdoname,
porfabor te lo pido.
No ha sido tu culpa el que yo haya sufrido.
Tan solo fue la mia,
la de nadie mas,
por no escuchar lo que tratabas de expresar.
Y ahora estoy aqui,
expresando lo que siento,
como tu ya sabes, mi arrepentimiento.
Perdoname Senor, no se que decir,
lo que si quiero es estar junto a ti.

Locura (espiritual)

Que locura es esta, de la que el mundo esta hablando?
Que cuando andamos con tigo nos paran senalando.
Dicen que estamos locos por que alabamos tus nombre,
por que hablamos de ti,
por que solo con tigo podemos ser feliz.
Y si estar loca significa amarte,
quisiera ser la mas loca de todas,
Por que con tigo soy feliz,
Por que se me es imposible vivir sin ti.
Llegaste a mi vida de una manera especial,
dia que jamas podre olvidar.
Senor eres hermoso,
eres sincero,
eres el amor verdadero.
Que pena que muchos no puedan entender
el amor y la amistad que tu quieres ofrecer.

Rescate

Destruyeron mi corazon,
pero tu lo arreglaste.
Robaron mi sonrisa,
mas tu la encontraste.
Me sacaste del hueco en cual me cai,
Y con un te quiero me hiciste feliz.

El amor

El amor no lo escoges.
El te escoge a ti.
Dos almas nacieron para conocerse,
y un dia descubrir que ya no son dos almas, sino una.
Nace un sentimiento fuerte como el mar,
y tan grande como el espacio.
Poca gente descubre ese sentir,
pero afortunado quien lo conozca,
aunque despues lo pierda.
Por que bien cierto es,
"Mas vale haber querido y perdido que nunca haber amado".

(Short story) My first and only love.

       When I was little, my grandmother used to tell me lots of stories. The one I liked the most was how she fell in love with my grandfather. People used to do things differently in those days.
My grandfather even had to go to her parent's house and ask for her hand in marriage.
Grandma told me something one day I took very serious. She said, " Nerea, people only get one chance in love. Everyone has that one person God makes specially for them. The rest are only partners people settle for."
That comment stuck on me like a flea on a dog. I thought everyday about this wonderful man that God made for me. I knew exactly how he will be. A well adjusted individual with great looks and good manners who lived in a castle with his parents; the King and Queen of Spain.
Yes, I wanted a prince just like the ones I saw in Disney movies.
I fell in love at the age of fifteen. His name is to painful for me to mention. He was no prince. In fact, he was a thief who stole my heart. I met him at a birthday party. He was the typical popular boy in school and I was nothing but a shadow. When I saw him for the first time, I felt those butterflies grandma warned me about.
I had no intentions to dance or any clue on how to be cool. I never read that manual. Never thought I cared enough. So I went outside for some fresh scape of the torture that was building in my teenage mind. I felt someone touched my shoulder. I turned round and it was him. He asked for my name and my confusion reflected in his eyes. I couldn't believe he was talking to me. After that moment, our time together felt like light years. We became inseparable after that day.
I'll never forget that one night; we where sitting on the sand at the beach. Silence took over our evening but it was perfect because there were no words that could describe the intensity I was feeling.
Looking at the dark blue sky decorated with stars, he pointed at the most bright one as he told me that was his favorite one. He asked me which one was mine. I didn't have one at that time, but I chose a very tiny one next to his because that's where I always wanted to be.
He told me that night he will love me forever.

I look up the at the sky from time to time and eagerly search for those two stars that unlike us, are still shining together.

Who should we love?

Who should we love?
Our family? Because we grow up with them.
Our so call friends? Because they tell us what we want to hear when we want to hear it.
People who make us laugh all the time? Because we need them for entertainment.
People with money? Because perhaps they might help us in our time of need.
What about the rest?
What about the ones who don't pretend to be perfect all the time?
What about the ones who are not that funny because they will tell you what's on their mind even thought, you might not like it, and in the process hurt you; but, also make you grow as a person?
Can you recognize the people who truly care and the ones who are just using you?
Open you eyes and look at the bigger picture.
You might find things that will susprise you.

Can't escape.

Sometimes the dark,
Sometimes the light,
I never choose my side.
It comes to me like a thief at night,
and it forces on me without asking twice.