A letter
To My cousin Joaquín, killed in 2018
Longing
Listen
Maryland mama writing. They never found who. The police stopped calling after the second year. I still call them every January. They are polite. They have nothing. I am writing this so somebody else has it: you were twenty-two and the best dancer at every quinceañera in Prince George's County. The dancing is what I am keeping. Not the rest.
Feb 2, 2026