I Am the Story I Was Afraid to Tell: A Poetic Memoir of Survival, Grief, and Becoming Me

In I Am the Story I Was Afraid to Tell, Liliana Caliente-Cazadora peels back the layers of silence and shame to share a poetic memoir that is raw, haunting, and achingly honest. Through a collection of free verse poems, she explores the unspoken truths of her life-childhood shaped by addiction and violence, the sudden loss of her mother, unreported trauma, complicated love, and the long journey to self-acceptance.

Told in five thematic sections, these poems offer snapshots of a girl growing up too fast, a survivor learning to breathe again, and a woman discovering her voice in a world that tried to quiet her. With fierce vulnerability and lyrical clarity, Liliana invites readers into the spaces most people try to hide-the messy, the painful, the tender, and the resilient.

This is not just a story of what she's been through. It's a story of what she's become.

I Am the Story I Was Afraid to Tell is a love letter to the ones still learning how to take up space, to speak the truth, and to choose themselves-softly, boldly, and without apology.