Forever Stay

About the Book

Forever Stay is a posthumous collection of poems, dreams, and visions by Raquel Dawn Trigo (1982-2004). The writings, "visuals of my soul" as she described them, take the reader on her journey from childhood to teenage adolescence, from young womanhood to maturity. Some are quite innocent and straightforward, while others are more thoughtful and contemplative; from love sonnets and idyllic dreams so typical of many young girls, to deeper subjects and yearnings that reflected a maturity tempered by her own battles with depression. Emanating from all of her poems is a love of the land and sea, her appeals and battle-cry for the meek and downtrodden, her unwavering belief in God, and, always, an affection and tenderness for children and their innocence. Her later writings, oftentimes mystical and dream-like, herald the pains and struggles of common people everywhere, and her mention of fatalistic subjects must be placed in the context of some one who, throughout her brief life, selflessly refused to burden anyone with her own problems.

The poems are compiled as chronologically as possible beginning with her earliest poems written as a young girl from about age 13 to 16; continuing with the second chapter written in her late teens, and concludes with the third chapter written over the last three years of her life.

Throughout all of her writings there remains the central theme of her basic goodness and inherent caring nature that had no boundary and never surrendered.

-Tom & Linda Trigo

About the Author

Raquel Dawn Trigo was born in a natural home birth on July 19, 1982, in Silver Spring, MD. She was raised, and lived most of her life, in and around Charlottesville, Virginia. She was home taught for much of her upbringing, but also attended public schools. She traveled widely throughout America and across borders; around her twentieth birthday she walked along the shoreline of a sparkling blue lake in Quebec; as a ten year old she gathered quartz in a rugged canyon of the Sierra Madre of Mexico. She was always collecting mementos on these travels, things that most folks might not see the value of; a rusted iron spike from an abandoned railroad bed in Virginia; a rattler she cut off from a dead western diamondback along a remote highway near in New Mexico; a pine cone from a dark grove of trees in the Adirondacks of upstate New York. Her sense of wonder and exploration were the natural offshoot of a heart that cared so much for the natural beuaty of this world and for others. She died unexpectedly on May 5, 2004; she was just 21 years of age.

Raquel aspired to succeed in various artistic endeavors, including; acting, film production, designing her own line of clothing and jewelry, making handicrafts, and cosmetology, but her greatest passion was channeled into music, literature, and poetry.

In 2001, she worked on the motion picture Gods And Generals, as a location assistant, for which she received a screen credit. She also did production work on several commercials and television productions. As a young girl, she appeared as an extra in Lassie, Sommersby, and Major Payne. In 2003 she scouted locations for a short, independent film, The Kindness Of Strangers, an assignment that took her over much of the upper Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, a rural area that she knew and loved deeply.

Her love of nature and compassion for animals was reflected in all her pursuits. Her spirit lives on through dozens of poems, song lyrics, story ideas, sketchings, and in the cherished memories of her that we, who knew and loved her, will carry with us until the end of our days.