The word sounds like hope.
Renewable energy.
Renewable resources.
The thing that comes back,
the thing that replenishes,
the thing that does not run out.
That is not what they meant.
They meant: we can extend this.
They meant: we are not committing.
They meant: you may return
on the condition that we decide
to let you.
Renewable is not the same as permanent.
Renewable is not the same as wanted.
Renewable is what you call a contract
when you need the person to keep working
but you need them to keep working
without the rights that come
with calling the work what it is.
I was renewable.
I renewed.
Twenty-five times I renewed
like a library book
that no one ever decided to buy.
Useful enough to keep checking out.
Not valuable enough to own.
I am not renewable anymore.
Not because I ran out.
Because I finally understood
that I was never the resource.
I was the person.
Those are different things
and I will not let anyone
confuse them again.
Soy la persona. No el recurso. Nunca fui el recurso.
I am the person. Not the resource. I was never the resource.
