suffocated
through my brown skin and monolid eyes,
through the sunspots on my cheeks
and my short stature,
the entirety of the philippines and mexico sits in my dna.
soaring through my veins
and searing through my skin
are the determinant screams of my ancestors
pushing me to pursue the opportunities
which they never had.
in every exhale
in every word
in every step
in every look
resides each of my predecessors.
make us proud
show us what we never got to see
put a piece of us in everything you do
their voices run in my blood,
and are louder than the fires of gunshots.
and as i get older,
american society screams a screeching bellow
your brown skin is hideous
your monolids are disgusting
your culture is nonsense
you do not belong.
and i suffocate them.
all the ambitious, deserving, ambiguous voices
all reduced to virtually nothing
what were once shrieks
were now whispers.
the entirety of the philippines and mexico cries
america has slaughtered and robbed them
once more.
but through literature
through the written words of my people
i release my hands,
no longer will i submit to a society
that consistently throws me away.
coarsing through my veins
in the blood pumping through my heart
the entirety of the philippines and mexico
has a home to flourish and bloom
brighter than it's own tropical flowers
and louder than the western culture
that had once silenced it.