"All my work is about my identity, but my identity may not be the identity you want me to write about. Of course, there’s also pressure from outside of my community which is like, 'Oh, in order for us to sort of fill a quota in this magazine, we would like to have a poem that represents the Mexican-American experience in Lexington.' And I’m like, 'Well, I don’t think that’s me actually. I would prefer to write about a bird. Or I’d write it like a love poem.' That to me is a huge permission I don’t feel like we’re always granted. I’m like, 'No, no, no, no, no. I want to write what I want to write.' Leaning in towards beauty feels like a political act."