Olive a Stranger
Y.Machado-Tuinier
Knowing the pain of loving a stranger
a concept foreign to my heart
For, how could one love another
From whom they’ve only existed apart?
A life spent missing a distant soul
Until abruptly lives ended, leaving lands stolen
I weep knowing hindsight came too late
Poppy flowers bloom alone on faith
Stories of olive trees
Generations of dreamers full of hope for their seeds
Resilience grows on watermelon vines
Deaths must tell a tale, life given to their plea
Narrated from under rubble, erupted by malevolent intent
Understandings of love rising anew from manmade graves of cement
No longer defined as unsettled desire, love's true meaning has been shown
By strangers, histories unknown, an ignorance we’ll never atone
Love, reborn as a force clear and innate
Familiar, eternal, undisputable faith will console
Dissolving historic veils
Poetic resistance introduces the soul of our souls, in death lives a tale
Beloved strangers, for whom I’d give my life if yours it would save
Ignorance blinded the world, humanity failed to arise
Robbing ourselves of the chance to know love
Reaching you only after the rubble, your spirit and might
Now, I live in your honor, all the martyrs, and survivors still confined
Love will manifest in your liberation, my promise to our beloved Palestine
“A poem to the countless innocent lives that have risen from rubble in Palestine to speak to our souls and activate the love in our hearts.”
— Y.Machado-Tuinier
Y.Machado-Tuinier
Y.Machado-Tuinier
Yvette is a proud Indigenous Latina daughter of migrants native to Ecuador and Guatemala. A descendant of radical creators, wisdom keepers, storytellers, artists, and revolutionary disrupters, Yvette’s work is guided by her ancestors and elders. She carries her cultural strength, barrio brilliance, and revolutionary voice as a testament of power—daring to thrive within institutions that have been historically withheld from communities that have been marginalized, orgullosa y sin complejos de sus raíces Yvette challenges the notion that one should aim to be self-made, instead, she hopes to inspire others to take pride in being Community-Made. She graduates from the Honors College with a BA in Psychology May 2024, aspiring to strengthen a new narrative in understanding the interplay of grit and resilience within diverse communities. Post graduation, Yvette will attend law school aspiring to invest into international human rights and civil liberties.