Ella es un jardín / A Woman Is A Garden - Eryn Perez

A woman, wearing a light pink shirt and white pants, kneeling in a room with flowers stemming out of piles of dirt. She is using gardening scissors on a flower in the foreground.

Lleno de fruta

Y deliciosas hierbas verdes

Con bellas flores

Y árboles tan altos

Como el mástil de un barco.

Ella aprendió

Que era mejor

Poner una valla

Y espinar lo que quedó

Nadie más cosecharía

Lo que ella había sembrado.

Los ladrones y mendigos

Llegan sin hacer ruido

No esperan a lo que ha crecido.

“Este jardín no es un jardín,

Miren esto,

Este desastre desolado.

¿No puedes ver?

¡Qué montón de arbustos y maleza!

No es nada especial en absoluto.”

Ella había sido engañada antes

Tanto que se engañó a sí misma

“Soy un jardín

Pero nadie puede saberlo”

Porque después de todo,

Un jardín sin paredes

No es un jardín eterno.


Full of fruit

And luscious green grass

With beautiful flowers

And trees as tall as a ship’s mast.

She learned it was best

To put up a fence

And thorn what was left

No one else would reap

What she had sown.

Thieves and beggars are quiet

They don’t wait for what’s grown

“This garden isn’t a garden at all,

Look at this, this desolate mess

Can’t you see?

What a bunch of bushes and weeds

It’s nothing special at all.”

She had been fooled before

So much so she fooled herself

“I am a garden

But no one can know”

Because after all,

A garden without walls

Is not a garden at all.

Eryn Perez is a Mexican American amateur artist and writer based in Fresno, California. Drawing inspiration from her lived experiences, she explores themes of identity, culture, and womanhood through her work. As a contributor to the San Joaquin Review, she aims to share perspectives and connect with readers on a deeper level.

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Fangs, Stakes, and the Landlord's Letter - Stefan Leiva