I can’t pretend I knew GusTavo Adolfo Guerra Vásquez as well as other people did. I can’t act like I was a close friend of decades or a family member, someone who intimately knew of his life’s journey through firsthand accounts. But it did hurt to learn of his passing this past July after sharing months of poetic space and a stage at the Los Angeles County Fair.

I can only speak to the impact that GusTavo had on my life and on our #ArtsFam who attend the Conchas y Café bilingual creative writing workshop that I co-teach through my organization, DSTL Arts.

You see, GusTavo, by recommendation of one of his closest friends, enrolled in the Spring 2026 semester of Conchas y Café. He attended most of the sessions during our 15-week semester, and I learned a lot about the person he was through our weekly sessions.

I sincerely regret not meeting GusTavo earlier in our careers as poets and educators in our Los Ángeles community. I know we would’ve opened many doors together for our comrades in poetry. And if anything, as we joked in class, I would’ve had someone who could have delivered my poetry with the same rhythms and cadence as me, and vice versa. Like pitch-hitters in baseball, we joked, we could’ve had each other’s backs in poetry performances should one of us not be available to read, without our audience losing out on the experience of hearing our poetry performed in our voices.

That’s how similar in wavelength it felt being around GusTavo and basking in his poetic light.

It’s no exaggeration to say that GusTavo was a light, especially during our classes. He was the kind of light that complements the spectral range of lights that come together in our “Conchas y Café” classes and zines. He never tried to outshine anyone; instead, Gustavo saw the glow within others and thoughtfully offered constructive feedback on the poetry and writing we workshopped together, such that everyone’s unique light could be as strong as his.

There was no ego in his manner of being. GusTavo was a true poetry brother in our #ArtsFam.

We collectively laughed when he would joke about the ridiculousness of current national politics through his poetry, and we all contemplated our individual memories of past conservative politicians who also tried to scapegoat our Latinx community when GusTavo poetically integrated his personal migrant experiences during the Reagan Era into his writing.

For most of us in the class, GusTavo and his candid approach to poetics and politics felt familiar. Warm. Recognizable in the way that one might feel like they were in conversation with their cousin, or tío, or brother from another mother. GusTavo was just like that. A genuine soul.

I personally appreciated the fact that he so loved his South Central home and Central American paisanos that he coined the term “SouthCentralAmericans” for his poem of the same name, which playfully celebrates the intersectionality of being Pan-American, a product of the American continents and cultures.

This concept is important to me, personally, because, as GusTavo also believed, we are all a fusion of where we came from and the histories that make our environments what they are today. Todos somos americanos, regardless of the nationalities that attempt to divide us. And that’s why I understand why GusTavo has been described as a Humanist by the people who knew him best.

Clearly, GusTavo was many things for many people. A poet, an artist, an educator, a mentor, a friend. For me, he was and will forever be a part of the ArtsFam. Un verdadero hermano en poesía. And as a brother in poetry, I want to support his true family as best as I can.

I encourage anyone capable of doing so to donate to his family’s GoFundMe campaign as they navigate their grief and the unexpected loss of GusTavo’s light in their daily lives. Support GusTavo’s family now, during their time of need, by clicking here.

And if you hope to learn more about the light and legacy of GusTavo, some of his closest friends have organized a virtual memorial for Saturday, which you can RSVP to attend by clicking here.

Rest in Poetry, GusTavo. En poesía descanses. #ArtsFam por siempre.