Personal writing
Essays, fiction and notes from the road, written outside the newsroom.
So, I photograph this moment with you
Your focus is on the road and the restaurant where we’re eating dinner. Mine is on you, freezing the minute, so I can study your features I have long …
29 July 2025 / Personal EssaysI’ve come to learn your scent and now wear it like a second skin
I catch your scent, similar to ocean and salt, the one I’ve come to learn and embed into my memory and now wear like a second skin, already tattooed a…
28 June 2025 / Personal EssaysMoments like this keep me on my feet
The sides of your eyes crinkle with lines when you smile, and I hope mine do too. Moments like this keep me on my feet, reminding me that whatever hap…
9 March 2025 / Personal EssaysI wonder what my grandmother is doing now.
I wonder what she’s doing now, if she’s doing well, if she’s guarding the house she grew up in, if she’s finally home.…
1 February 2025 / Personal EssaysI wondered how it would feel to be kissed by someone in the rain
For hundreds of nights, I wondered how it would feel to be kissed by someone in the rain, to feel cherished in the dark, in public, outdoors. To not c…
17 January 2025 / Personal EssaysNow, it seems, you’re just a memory in my mind
Is this how drug withdrawal feels like? The rush I felt when we first got in touch slowly slips away, but I’m still clinging to the last threads, hopi…
31 December 2024 / Personal EssaysWe’ll part ways, and I won’t see him again
In half an hour, we’ll arrive at our stop, all of us. We’ll spill out of the van, him with his bag and me with my thoughts.…
27 December 2024 / Personal EssaysI’ll be fierce, not silent. I’m enough.
Tonight, I murmur it a few times, then some more, like a mantra, a prayer I’ve already memorized. My chest, my memories, my worries feel lighter.…
26 December 2024 / Personal EssaysThe two people sitting across from me have the lightheartedness I long for
Throughout the night, the table seats nine people sharing stories and laughter, but my eyes often dart to the two people across from me.…
25 December 2024 / Daily PromptI draw a past version of myself in my memory and reach out to him
For a moment, before the time I live in takes me back with it, I borrow the peace of mind my past self bears and leave the rest with him.…
25 December 2024 / Personal EssaysI spent a day in Coimbra and discovered parts of the city (and myself)
It was quiet, and I was in awe. The ceiling of Saint Michael’s Chapel was a sight to marvel at. The colored veins coiled until they were all tangled u…