La Muda (The Mute)

I’ve feared four things in my life,

But I have never told anyone, I’ve kept my thoughts and my words to myself,

Shut the lights, I’ll freeze,

Though a childish common fear, my hands turn cold, I would think they were turning blue, dripping in sweat,

I fear birds, their eccentric beaks, their cold beady eyes staring at me,

I fear their droppings plopping on my shoulder,

I fear cavities, the dentist’s disappointed face screaming “You have failed me!”

The greatest fear, one I am beginning to conquer,

Living up to expectations that I will be nothing more than where I come from,

I’m expected not to dream, not to achieve, not to be

This country thinks it, my parents make my path harder,

But until now, I am no longer la Muda,

The girl that keeps her head down, mouth shut, and opinions to herself,

No longer will I take the abuse, the violence, the discriminatory looks of privileged white faces as I walk through campus,

I don’t look like them, talk like them, walk with my head high like them,

No longer will I keep everything bottled inside,

My values, my voice, my people, the invisible people, will be heard

The fear is diminishing,

And with it,

I will flourish