When I don't speak out loud, it stems from the desire that, for the first time, poems guide the journey.

In recent years, writing has become a refuge for me, a place to express feelings and desires. In poetry, I found the possibility of beautifully expressing what is not always easy to bear.

The poems in this publication speak of fears, insecurities, heartbreak, and thoughts I don't voice aloud. The materiality appears as a gesture of tension: the entire publication is glossy, as a way of illuminating what isn't always bright. Let what hurts, what makes us uncomfortable, what's hard to say, shine. The same is true of the photographs. I chose flowers in different states because, even in their transformations, they retain something beautiful. Perhaps there, too, is a way to hold what hurts from a more loving place.

Self-management is made up of decisions, doubts, and a drive that always outweighs any one of them. Self-publishing is a constant process, a way of asking myself why I do what I do and what my purpose is.

My grandfather Aldo wrote poetry, published his collections, and shared them with us. The photos in this fanzine were taken with a camera I inherited from him. My grandfather also took photos, as did his father, my great-grandfather Víctor, who also had a fascination with flowers. This publication surely reflects much of them, my family, and my way of seeing and being in the world.

Every time I self-publish, I realize I'm revealing a very intimate part of my story. Exposing myself like this excites and makes me nervous at the same time, like almost everything that's good.