Vida y Amor: Love Poems Between a Salvadoran Immigrant Mother and Daughter

Abstract

These poems are a result of years of witnessing, feeling, processing, and healing. I asked my mom if she wanted to write a poem about our experiences as survivors or as immigrants, but right away she said she didn't want to write about difficult ones. Instead, she wanted to write about love, joy, and “algo positivo.” I respected her request, and it led us to a more intimate experience of collective consent, autonomy, and desire.

We hold so much wisdom in our bodies, so we decided to write poems about a subject of her choosing: Vida – my mom’s first poem ever. Initially, she wanted to write about the lives of the elderly at the convalescent home where she used to work, but she thought the poem would be sad. “Entonces saqué algo de mi corazón y saliste tú,” my mom said.

We have been warriors our whole lives, so these poems offered us an opportunity to breathe and shift from warrior to triumphant mode, or to put it in her words: “de luchadoras a vencedoras.” This co-authored piece made us realize how strong our bond is. This was our first time writing poems together. Through the writing, we reclaimed ourselves with Life and Love.

Amor, my poem, is a vulnerable and loving response to my mom’s poem, Vida. Thus, our poems take a healing-centered approach to our intergenerational testimony.

Arizona University Press (2025)