The writers assembled in this publication all come from different places, each one contributing from the perspective of their own experiences, histories, genders, and ethnicities. As readers who also hail from different places, we can appreciate this poetic gathering by reading these poems out loud, moving through these different dreams, bodies, languages, histories, and perspectives. Above all else, their voices become part of our own memories. Ashanti Dinah, Zhüren, and Xun all challenge us to participate in their lives, where they live, and to recognize the importance of what they see and feel, and how it may be different from what we see and feel. When you read these poems you will find open windows and doors that will allow you to experience Colombia, Costa Rica, and Chiapas, perhaps in ways you’ve never imagined as each verse takes you by the hand and leads you to experience life outside of the spaces you are used to. Places can be geographically distant, but there are ways that we can come together without taking out a map, traveling, or speaking a different language. As we’ve seen many times before, poetry can erase borders, even more so when it speaks in different tongues.

Translated by Paul M. Worley