ABSTRACT
This creative nonfiction essay shares the process of writing my poem, 'from organic acts,' which was published in my second book of poems, from unincorporated territory [saina]. The poem is about my grandma's Life, from her early childhood growing up on Guam during World War II to the point in her seventies when she migrated to California. In the essay I discuss the process of interviewing my grandma, writing the poem, and incorporating sources related to Chamorro orature, Catholic rosaries, US citizenship, and intergenerational storytelling.
