03/10/2026
For the past few weeks, something unexpected has been happening.
My poetry book We Become a Poem / Nos Volvemos Poema has been moving up and down the Amazon Best Sellers Rank lists in several poetry categories, reaching #1 in both Spanish Poetry and Hispanic American Poetry at different moments.
But other than seeing this as a personal milestone, I see it as something much bigger.
It means that people are buying poetry. It means that people are reading bilingual books. It means that people are curious about languages, cultures, and words that cross borders. And that gives me enormous hope.
Because every time an adult decides to read a poem, learn a new language, take a class, or explore something unfamiliar, something powerful happens.
Research shows that continued learning throughout adulthood is associated with:
• stronger cognitive flexibility and memory
• increased brain plasticity
• improved mental health and sense of purpose
• lower risk of cognitive decline later in life
Learning keeps the brain active, curious, and adaptable.
But beyond the science, there is something even more meaningful. There is deep dignity in an adult who chooses to keep learning. Someone who works all day and still opens a book at night. Someone who studies a language just because they want to understand another culture. Someone who reads poetry simply because words still move them.
I have endless admiration and respect for people who dedicate their time to learning, not because they have to, but because they want to.
So today I simply want to say thank you to the readers who bought this little bilingual poetry book, thank you to the language learners who live between languages, thank you to the teachers who keep encouraging curiosity and to every adult who chooses growth over comfort.
Your curiosity keeps literature alive.
And if We Become a Poem / Nos Volvemos Poema found its way onto those lists for a few weeks, it is only because readers decided that poetry, and language, still matters.
Thank you for that! Truly.
Silvi
