- Olivia Brooks
- Oct 29
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 30
Kind
I wish I were the kind of person who could get a tattoo on a whim, who could go a whole
day without swiping my credit card, the kind of writer who shows up to her desk every
day and types even when it’s bad, the kind who always has a pithy quote for a syllabus at
the ready or understands foreign policy really well, I wish I were a more disciplined
person when it came to food exercise spending loving making walking my dogs brushing
their teeth changing out the sheets saying what I mean and meaning what I say, I wish my
heels reached the floor in downward dog on the first try, I wish I were the kind of person
who could have three cocktails without puking, have stamina, the kind who remembers to
change the Brita filter, I never wish I were younger but I do wish my libido and
metabolism were and I wish I’d had a ho phase in my 20s and I hope he’ll never leave me
wish I were the kind of person who didn’t assume she was forgettable I wish I made more
memorable things for my life to be worthy of memory
PAOLA CAPÓ-GARCÍA is a poet and educator from San Juan, Puerto Rico. She is the author of CLAP FOR ME THAT’S NOT ME (2018), selected by D.A. Powell as the winner of Rescue Press' 2017 Black Box Poetry Prize. Her poems have appeared in The Volta, The Texas Review, Puerto Rico en mi corazón, Latino Book Review, jubilat, Poetry Society of America, poets.org, and others. She currently resides in San Diego, where she is serving as the city's Poet Laureate for 2025-2027.