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.