Uxmar Torres

THE WRONG ICE IS MELTING

What if you woke up quick to a rattling chain link

At camp america, where they make you piss where you drink

Imagine waking up to a missing Mother and Father

After sleeping on concrete and sipping on toilet water

There’s not a moment my mind blinks and pretends

That they have not deported my family and my friends

My hands feel powerless but still, I raise a fist

I use the words that the Lord gave me to write like this

I wrote a letter for BORE… but the judge wanted more

He didn’t get to hug his kids before they sent him out the door

We can’t save everybody, but we can educate

Know your rights, how to protect yourself, and how to mediate

Not everyone’s had opportunities like I did

I’m first-generation middle school, high school, and college

I’m first-generation jus soili and I’ll use it

I’ll exercise my freedom of speech until I lose it

This is a call to impeach every midday marauder 

And a reminder that Flint still has no clean water

A call to bless the blood in the street where I was born

To bless all the hand-me-down clothes that we have worn

This is for every orphan at the border in a cage

Aqui ando rezando, quemando palo santo and sage

Some days we fly with angels, other days we creep with demons

It’s up to us to decolonize our own minds to supersede it

While everything is possible, nothing is certain

Ergo some of these obstacles are nothing more than a curtain

If we take the time to dream it, give it love, and let it happen

I believe that little spark of light will start a chain reaction

We’ve all overcome mentalities and risen from the depths

Of escapism, vices, and regretting what comes next

While this life I have ain’t much, I’d rather perish

Telling everybody I love them and holding the ones I cherish

There is happiness in consciousness and living in this presence

I suggest a dose and a dive into its sobering iridescence

Uxmar Torres is a proud son and sibling of Mexican Immigrants. He was born on the southside of Chicago, where he was heavily influenced by the MCs in his neighborhood, on the radio, and across the city. He began writing at age ten and quickly found his voice through verse. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Poetry from Augustana College and has since been showcased across the country for his spoken word poetry. In 2024 he was elected as the first poet Laureate of Joliet, making him the first Poet Laureate of Mexican descent in the state of Illinois.