Sofía Aguilar, age 22
At the launch of our new Literary Journal, we asked WriteGirl alum Sofía Aguilar to take up the challenge of writing a poem in collaboration with attendees. We asked our volunteers, mentees, alums, and the general public to describe places they love in their own hometowns and share some memorable moments with us. As they dropped their ideas into the chat, Sofía scooped them up and created an entire poem in less than 30 minutes. We hope you enjoy reading this community-sourced poem as much as we enjoyed hearing Sofía perform it at the launch event! It is a stunning reflection not only of great love for Los Angeles, but also for hometowns worldwide.
this is the place
this is the place i always return to:
the creek where i learned to skip fast
the cactus where i fell by the pool
the fence where i fell again before my bike did
the ravines and oak trees,
the history of the earth in their bark
both seen and unseen
this is the place i always return to:
dry wind in summer tickling my nose
coyotes in the distance at night, howling, hungry
the deer that first learned, like me, to be skittish
then grew bolder and bolder
then hunger and hungrier
this is the place i always return to:
sitting on the rooftop with friends,
the best place to have a party
the small aquarium at the end of the pier,
nestled like a secret
where i turned seven and learned to love the sea
catching fireflies between my palms
picking blackberries like love, turning
my fingertips the same small color as their skin
this is the place i always return to:
the city i hurry down
the town i take to heart
the place i still, will always, call home.