A Work in Progress

By Michelle Brieno

My name is Michelle Brieno to start and that’s more than my name. It’s my identity, a statement of who I am presented to this world, all that I can claim.

Born and raised in a place where outsiders ask if we even a state. New Mexicans here can all relate to our fate of being part of the southwestern gate. The 505 is my home, all I have ever known and been shown. Will I ever leave? I honestly don’t think so.

Didn’t have a white picket fence childhood, but that don’t mean I don’t believe in my family the way that I should. Sticking together is all we know and as the years pass by, we have learned to grow, to all the BS that happens and just go with the flow.

This is the place that I lay my roots down. My family is here all over this town. It is where my sons were born and where I have found My One. This place is not only a place, but a storage of memories all said and done.

The Peter Pan inside of me is let out to play, every time me and my sons are left wild. Running, Laughter, pillow fights, and smiles. What can I say to describe the bonds between this mother and childs? The best parts of me are seen in these three. My reader, my creator, and my adventurer run about me.

 Right beside me is another ball of fluff. My Buttercup who loves me and comes when I call, she’s made of the right stuff. My ride or die, my shotgun Shorty. Her legs are so short I think she may be half Corgi. 

Then there’s My One, where do I start? This man not only changed me, but wormed his way into my heart. With him by my side, I became the person God meant me to be. Strong-willed, passionate, and veins filled with sun tea. He also says I’m very purty and here I am at the age of five past thirty. 

Who else am I? Well what can I say? I am like a book with the last pages blank, for I am always learning about myself in different ways throughout the days so I look up to the sky and say “It’s you I thank.” 

I’m that slow ass driver you’ve honked at, I’m familiar to the question Red or Green? Horses graze in my backyard where I chase them down to tell them about my day. I kick at New Mexico clay, with boots that I have worn down as I gaze about my scene.  I jump fences to check out baby pigs as they run about and squeal. They nuzzle me with their snouts as I kneel, hoping that it will bring faster their next meal. 

I love them windows down while I drive. Huge fan of music. I blast it wherever I arrive. When I’m jamming, I got that main character vibe down on lock. From hip hop, r&b, country, and rock; I always douse myself in. I always end up with hits from the 80’s, 90’s, to them early two thousands.

Bad memory is an issue and I think it’s in my genes. So, photography helps me capture these memories that please and are keys that hang up in my hallway to be seen. Yet it’s ironic that I’m not photogenic, most of my photos are not of this chick, I just point at the things I love and go click,click,click….

What can I say to just make you see? The type of person I am where nothing defines me. There are many parts of me I cannot explain, it will just make me look crazy. Lock me up, straight jacket, please do not taze me.

By Michelle Brieno