Of the Desire to Write

By Néstor Paz

The first piece I wrote was a poem dedicated to family, it lacked rhymes, it had verses that were too long, and its images were somewhat out of place. At that time I was a chubby sixth grade boy in a city school in San Miguel, El Salvador, and the motivation for such an undertaking came from an event in which I had been allowed to read a poem called “10 Roses for Mom” .

Although from the age of 11 some of those verses no longer run through my mind as often as I would like, I do remember the thought I had when reading the poem the first time, “I want to write something like that”. Over the years and the subsequent adolescence and high school, those writings were replaced by lyrics from rock songs from the Mago de Oz (a famous rock band from Spain).

In 2007, already at the University of El Salvador, I did have time to write, inspired by the poetry of Amado Nervo and various historical figures from my homeland, I wrote poetry here, essays there, and the occasional theater scene of those full of cliches in which a couple realizes that they are perfect for each other, romantic me. Between Pedagogy and Didactics the verses moved, and from time to time they danced to the rhythm of one of my classmates. However, being an educator took shape before being a writer, and having graduated as an English Language Teacher, the desire to bring money weighed more in the wallet.

Now a secondary education teacher, I went from having to work at 7 national schools in a single year, to bilingual schools, up to the only Binational Center in the country in 2015. I kept doing my writings at night, after making lesson plans, I read those verses under a faint light that came from the street, reclining in a hammock, sleepy, but with desire.

In 2017 I moved to Wisconsin, where I live to this day. I work in a Dual Language Education Program and I love my job. I will never get tired of being an educator but, with my dreams and suitcases also came my writings.

And well, out of my desire to write, I think it is finally time to pay attention to it and give in, as we say in my beautiful El Salvador, all in.