Juan Vásquez Varela ~ Featured Poet at Second Sunday Poetry Series ~ May 2025

Juan Vásquez Varela

Born and raised in the salsa-popping streets of Cali, Colombia, Juan Vásquez Varela is a creative disruptor, poet, educator, and sustainable fashion advocate. Rooted in liberation, love, and learning, his work lives at the intersection of story, style, and self-expression. Whether he's writing poems, sourcing one-of-a-kind pieces for the second-hand vintage store he co-owns with his wife, or building space for honest conversation, Juan moves with intention and imagination. With over a decade of experience in education, he brings a deep understanding of people, culture, and possibility to everything he creates. When not writing or digging through vinyl crates (or clothes), you'll find him vibing at live shows, obnoxiously rooting for the Knicks, or running the shop and chasing big ideas with his wife.

Dualities

Anchor in my throat
How do I raise it?
How do I set sail to my anger
Chase the North Star and set motion
To the sadness
That’s clenched
In my body
How do I teach my mind
That it’s ok
For my voice to crack
For my arms to drop
For my words
To get lost between breaths
To have no words
At all

I don’t need to be loud
To be seen
But it’s ok
If I choose
To channel volcanoes
To let the fire burn it’s way through the prairie
To let the ashes cover all that’s been left behind in town
To let the smoke be the mirror to your shortcomings

I’d ask for the tides to take me to land
To show me how to hold violence
And stillness
In the same rhythm
How to blare recklessly
Roar my way into the shore
Selfishly
For once
I forget
Shipwrecks and heartbreaks
Are oddly similar
That water is equally flexible and destructive

I’ve let - my anchor - go

I don’t need your map
I just need you to listen