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My poem, Nā Kahawai (The Rivers) of my Great Grandmother, Maude, in Issue 05 of Paperbark Magazine (from UMass Amherst)

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two & a half years into the pandemic, wildfire smoke thickens the air, every year growing dark & more westward, our breathing shorter & hardened. capital consumes the quality of sky, & day after day, more of us enter the fog — heavy as metal — our bodies turned hot in the crucible, chests fluttering, airways tightening. you are so young & healthy, the doctors tell me. your tests have all come back normal. you have so much ahead of you. i sit in front of them, gasping for air.

Long-COVID (Seattle, 2022) by Terra Oliveira, published in The Rising Phoenix Review

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to be myself just like any other is to give of my attention the capitalist class leeches our attention & we pay commodity of each other extraction of the world monetization of our potential attention is precious & holy & its objects where we place the entire meaning of our lives having faith that what we notice & love can & will be changed in ways we may like or not our fight is in taking back everything

Noticing by Terra Oliveira, published in The Rising Phoenix Review

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discipline, like joy, is a matter of focus but also conditions. i lift my eyes out of the great, looming dark, work my hands into the foaming water, return my senses to a shared & honest body. its signs & signals give themselves over to me in every degree, daily & readily. the presence of the Lord nearer to me than my own form. in Communion / of the Body, we witness & bear our semi-reliable memory, our more reliable song, & the constant process of being changed by each other. talking it out. loving & moving it through.

Morning Routine by Terra Oliveira, published in The Rising Phoenix Review

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four & a half million people visit the island of O’ahu per year, watch the red sun climb down into the Pacific, escape into paradise, laugh with the water as petroleum from Red Hill leaks under the island, into the drinking water, the haoles drinking their mai tai’s on 382,000 acres of tropical heaven we belong to the ‘āina by the right of our own Kingdom, & a fifth of the land “belongs to”        (is owned by) the military, the u.s. navy’s tanks bleeding into the aquifer that the residents of Honolulu depend on the honu & i exchange visits in the stillness of the hazy sea, & the O’ahu Water Protectors cry out — ola i ka wai, water is life — on this eden of earth, demanding the Red Hill Storage Facility’s immediate & permanent ending the sun waits to climb back up again, to shine victoriously through the waves

Shut Down Red Hill, Terra Oliveira (Published in the Hawai'i Pacific Review)

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do these houses hold the foundation for setting us free  or will they kill us  we do have a right  i’ve been coughing for years  the mold in the walls  the rust in the water  all the leaking ceilings  collapsing in the kitchens  the housing code  demands 24-72 hours  for landlords to fix almost everything  so while the rent is in escrow & the landlords appeal us in court  i go back to the fresh air  i falsely remember  of my childhood homes  now foreclosed & sold

— Tenant, Terra Oliveira (Published in Issue 12 of The Tiny Mag)

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it’s philly spring cleanup day  block captains organize neighbors & we shovel out mounds of debris from the gutters  sweeping up months-old tempered glass in a thousand tiny pieces on the sidewalk plastic bottles  rusted pipes  soggy papers  & cigarette butts  the city provides us  with a couple of broken brooms & mayor kenney provides us  with a thank you letter  children run through the streets which belong to them  fold their growing hands  into flower beds  & bike against oncoming traffic (really the city is moving against them)  miss jackson, block captain & resident of 54th & addison for over 50 years, would definitely run this city better  we would all run this city better

— Philly Spring Cleanup, Terra Oliveira (Published in Issue 12 of The Tiny Mag)

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💌 NEW NEWSLETTER 💌

Hello !! I’m excited to be starting a brand new newsletter, “from the open spaces” 〰️ subscribe here 💌 In my efforts to break away from dependence on the algorithm, this is a medium where I’ll be sharing recent publications of my work, upcoming events, reading recommendations, & musings from the open space (the lines / moments / conversations between my higher power & others & me). I’m excited to explore this newsletter with you as I reinvigorate my creative practice, step more fully into recovery, & redirect / discover new channels for sharing. Your support is appreciated as always :-)

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Happy 30th birthday / golden birthday to me 🌟⭐️ I pray that my 30’s bring me health, home & financial stability, happiness, groundedness, deepened community, flourishing creative career, wisdom & insight, replenishment & recovery, & the growth of the family I dream of. I’ve been blessed in so many ways & I am big-heart-open to what’s to come. Thank you to everyone who’s in my life & walking this journey with me ❤️

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Tobi is the first to receive my new photo book, The Road Is Long & Beautiful, of my 570 mile walk through Portugal. Available here :)

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Very excited that my photo book, The Road Is Long & Beautiful, is now available to order! The Road Is Long & Beautiful is a collection of 35mm color photographs from my 570 mile walking pilgrimage along the Caminho Português (The Portuguese Way). This 200 page experiential photo book walks with you through 58 days, one and a half million steps from Lisbon, Portugal to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, through farmland, olive groves, mountains, towns, monasteries, and train tracks. This pilgrimage meant so much to me to meet the land, people, & language of one of my ancestral countries for the first time. The route I walked: the Caminho Português from Lisbon to Porto, the Senda Litoral Coastal Route, crossing to the Central Route from Caminha to Valença, the Central Route, the Variante Espiritual, and ending in Santiago de Compostela. You can get your copy for $25 here ❤️

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Had the honor & privilege of photographing my dear friend & housemate Quinn for their birthday & gender-affirming surgery anniversary this week. They are one of the kindest, most caring, loving, & warm people I know & an incredible poet based in Philly. Follow them on IG at @quinnxrodriguez 🥰

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In Madrid, my last 2 days in Spain with my own private room. I will miss Portugal & Spain dearly & I am also looking forward to my return to be with family & comrades & friends. This trip has strengthened & shaped me in many ways. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate my 30th year alive & to learn about an ancestral country than slowly walking the Caminho Português & exploring a handful of cities. I am grateful I was able to sublet my room during this time & I am honestly grateful I was laid off (my 2nd layoff of the pandemic) so I could give myself the time needed for this trip after working so many jobs around the clock since the moment I moved to Philly. I was beyond burnt out & I hope this recharge of my spirit (with newly formed challenges, like still recovering from COVID) will give me the strength to return home to a country that is obviously in deep crisis, instability, & turmoil. I pray that my life’s direction will grow & grow in meaning & beauty & love of all kinds.

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“my heart & my work / my work & my heart”

terra oliveira

on recycled paper bags

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slow movement with wind, dreaming of the land under the asphalt

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we hold onto denial as if it protects us from pain when we are clearly in both. today we can choose to release denial, to accept all of reality without picking and choosing its parts

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denial is like a dam, & when we release denial the floodgates of our pain are pried open, & only in the movement through can acceptance come