A confidence was betrayed
My innermost thoughts were mocked
So I shut up what was left
and the song inside me was lost.
Today, it is over.
I can forgive, I will forget.
And now’s the time
to put things right
my sword is a pen
my enemy, regret.
I have decided that
it’s time to set the captive free,
because far too many years
my beating heart was stifled,
locked up with a rusty key.
With its new found liberty
it marches forward boldly,
across the hills, to the shores
in search of poetry,
and with its renewed beat
this emancipated heart
declares its rebellious creed:
I will harbor fugitive thoughts
and nurture them
until they are ready
to slip into society
and gather comrades
to join in the resistance
against the mundane
and prosaic.
I will hold high the torch
passed down to me
by Viking minstrels,
Irish horse thieves,
and Spanish windmill warriors,
and keep it burning for all
that stumble down this path behind me,
though it may only illuminate
just barely ahead of my feet.
And always,
I will bring passion
to the table, home-brewed
in a glass salt shaker,
and sprinkle it liberally
on everything I feast upon,
and never be afraid
of the long-term effects
it might have on my heart.
Because I am not a gambler,
and I am generally risk-averse,
but when it comes
to matters of the heart-
I have set the captive free
and the risk is worth the purse.
This is my poetic manifesto, in response to Gay’s prompt over at Dverse Meet the Bar: Movements and Manifestos. I highly recommend this exercise, because it is very inspiring and enriching. It’s funny, because I have been thinking about this topic for a while: the whys and wherefores of writing poetry, and the experiences and people that have become my muses over time. Just so happened that Anthony and Gay both consecutively took different angles on this topic. My manifesto isn’t bound to inspire any poetic movements, BUT for me it’s about letting my heart speak again, because a long time ago something happened that made me give up on writing.
Lupita Eyde-Tucker is a bilingual poet and translator raised in New Jersey and Guayaquil, Ecuador. She is the winner of the 2021 Unbound Book Festival Emerging Poet Award, the 2019 Betty Gabehart Prize, and in 2018 was selected as an AWP Writer to Writer Mentee by poet Maggie Smith. In 2022 her poetry manuscript, "Eucalyptus," was a finalist for the Andrés Montoya Prize from Letras Latinas. The manuscript explores her Sephardic Jewish ancestry and bi-cultural heritage.
Not Enough Poetry 
Lovely!
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Fantastic. Interesting.
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the risk is def worth the purse…and i am glad you have let that captive free…good too that you found forgiveness…it releases your heart to other emotions beyond that broiling hate….
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Hi Brian … Yes, it is good to have an open heart for many reasons. I had forgiven that person a long time ago, never had any hate towards them, but I did stop writing because of it. I realized that I was cutting off a part of myself. For many years I convinced myself that that part of me had little value anyway. My poems might be a bit childish and dumb but writing makes me happy, so I am not going to stop.
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How beautifully written Lupita. I love the music and magic in this piece – perfectly articulating that need to overcome the naysayers and stamp your voice on the poetic landscape. Just a wonderful piece of writing. I’m sorry everyone didn’t get to see it, but grateful I did.
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Thank you Gay! I am very happy to know that you liked it 🙂 Thanks for putting a fire beneath us all and encouraging us in such a compelling way to take a look at our journey through poetry. I have limited time these days, but I am going to make sure I go back to read everyone else’s poems as well.
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Thanks Lupita – you are very generous and it is much appreciated!
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March on and keep the torch building ~ Very positive & life affirming manifesto ~ I haven’t written mine yet, ha ~ Happy weekend ~
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Thanks Grace! I look forward to reading your manifesto 🙂
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it is def. worth the risk…
love the decidedness and wildness in this….
I will hold high the torch
passed down to me
by Viking mistrels,
Irish horse thieves,
and Spanish windmill warriors… so very cool…
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A long time ago, a betrayal made me afraid to write because I was afraid of what might be read between the lines. Then I discovered that bitterness and fear could be purged through poetry, the words that I couldn’t express directly could be turned into a lesson in verse. I found freedom from the pain. I’m so glad you are writing. 🙂 Well expressed.
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Quite a manifesto – feisty, liberating, with a dash of humility but bold! Well done, so pleased you are opening your heart through writing. I liked the glass salt-shaker, harboring fugitive thoughts, the reference to your ancestry. Nicely done!
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I’m so glad you wrote your manifesto… It was actually one of the best one we have done at MTB.. I think we should stread forward in the matter of the heart.
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Definitely let your heart speak again. Keeping it quiet, keeping your thoughts locked up hurts far more than the vulnerability.
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being honest, and true to who you are will never lead you wrong.
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