Home > Author > Elizabeth Acevedo
61 " Can you be from a placeyou have never been?You can find the island stamped all over me,but what would the island find if I was there?Can you claim a home that does not know you,much less claim you as its own? "
― Elizabeth Acevedo , Clap When You Land
62 " My brother was born a soft whistle:quiet, barely stirring the air, a gentle sound.But I was born all the hurricane he needed to lift - and drop- those that hurt him to the ground. "
― Elizabeth Acevedo , The Poet X
63 " Pero, tú no eres fácil.”You sure ain’t an easy one. "
64 " My parents probably wanted a girl who would sit in the pews wearing pretty florals and a soft smile. They got combat boots and a mouth silent until it’s sharp as an island machete. "
65 " ...you can't control how people look at you, but you can control how far back you pull your shoulders and how high you lift your chin "
― Elizabeth Acevedo , With the Fire on High
66 " Their gazes and wordsare heavy with all the thingsthey want you to be. "
67 " Maybe anger is like a river. Maybe it crumbles everything around it. Maybe it hides so many skeletons beneath the rolling surface. "
68 " After It happens when I’m at bodegas. It happens when I’m at school. It happens when I’m on the train. It happens when I’m standing on the platform. It happens when I’m sitting on the stoop. It happens when I’m turning the corner. It happens when I forget to be on guard. It happens all the time. I should be used to it. I shouldn’t get so angry when boys—and sometimes grown-ass men— talk to me however they want, think they can grab themselves or rub against me or make all kinds of offers. But I’m never used to it. And it always makes my hands shake. Always makes my throat tight. The only thing that calms me down after Twin and I get home is to put my headphones on. To listen to Drake. To grab my notebook, and write, and write, and write all the things I wish I could have said. Make poems from the sharp feelings inside, that feel like they could carve me wide open. It happens when I wear shorts. It happens when I wear jeans. It happens when I stare at the ground. It happens when I stare ahead. It happens when I’m walking. It happens when I’m sitting. It happens when I’m on my phone. It simply never stops. "
69 " When has anyone ever told meI had the right to stop it allwithout my knuckles, or my anger,with just some simple words. "
70 " She tells me words give people permission to be their fullest self and aren't these the poems I most needed to hear? "
71 " We're different, this poet and I. In looks, in body,in background. But I don't feel so differentwhen I listen to her. I feel heard. "
72 " But one thing I learned from the Saints,when the crossroads are open to you, you must decide a path.I will not stand still while the world makes my choices. "
73 " And isn't that what a poem is? A lantern glowing in the dark. "
74 " The body is a funny piece of meat. How it inflates and deflates in order to keep you alive. But how simple words can fill you up or pierce the air out of you. "
75 " It's wild to miss someone so much, and yet in order to care for them you have to constantly say goodbye. "
76 " When your body takes up more room than your voice, you are always the target of well-aimed rumors. "
77 " And I know the past isn't a mirror image of the future, but it's a reflection of what can be; and when your first love breaks your heart, the shards of that can draw blood for a long, long time. "
78 " You do not let your words stunt unknown possibilities. "
79 " I feel like I'm being pulled in a hundred different directions and my feet are stuck in cement. "
80 " The patron saint of the ocean is known for containing many parts of herself: she is a nurturer, but she is also a ferocious defender. & so I remember that to walk this world you must be kind but also fierce. "