Friday Feature: Jes Mendoza

I didn't know what home was

until I stumbled into it barefoot,

mud on my tongue from speaking

in the language of leaving.

I had built myself in pieces—

jagged, mismatched—

the kind of puzzle you throw back in the box

because the picture feels impossible.

But then your kindness cracked me open.

Not in the lightning-strike way

people romanticize,

but like sunlight slipping

through the blinds

on a morning you didn't think

you'd survive to see.

You made the air less heavy.

You made the mirror less cruel.

You made the ache in my chest

quiet enough that I could hear

my own laughter again.

It was never about saving me

you just sat beside the ruin

like it was a garden,

watered what was left,

and waited.

And now—when I say "home,"

I don't mean four walls,

or a zip code,

or the place I grew up.

I mean the way

my body exhales in your presence,

the way lost things

stop screaming to be found.

I mean whole.

Even in the places

I thought were gone for good.

From the Press:

Jes Mendoza's poetry holds a delicate tension between grief and joy, vulnerability and resilience. In this piece, she writes how ruin tended like a garden, of a home discovered not in a place, but presence. Through this work, her voice reminds us that healing is not sudden or dramatic, but it arrives in the quiet moments of care, honesty, and the courage to show up for life as it is.

About the Author:

Jes Mendoza writes poetry that breathes in quiet truths we tend to overlook: grief that still holds joy, desire tangled with vulnerability, and the small moments that change everything. Her work is rooted in resilience, identity, and the raw beauty of showing up for life as it is. Alongside her poetry, she brings this same honesty to The Art of Showing Up, her podcast where stories and reflection meet, inviting listeners into the art of living fully present.

Where to find:

Instagram (Podcast): https://www.instagram.com/the.artofshowingup

Facebook (Podcast): https://www.facebook.com/TAOSUpodcast 

Instagram (Personal): https://www.instagram.com/thejmendoza

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@thejessrick