chicana
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I can’t pinpoint the exact moment when I discovered I was Mexican
Of course, I always knew
But snippets of realization
Sprinkled into my lifetime of 16 years
Undocumented aliens,
Racists see them as the enemies
They’re trying to make a living for themselves,
Not to mention for their families.
Getting deported by I.C.E
So hard to comprehend
Chicana Yo Soy!
Y para Mexico Casi No voy
The Spanish I speak isn’t real
Now I know how natives feel
Chicana yo soy…..
Chicana Yo Soy!
I walk on a thin line of sadness and joy
Dear society,
There is hair sown to my arms and legs
but you have given me razors for that.
Imperfections dug on my face
and none of your creams and pills work.
A tunnel in between my front teeth…
My momma told to never be afraid of anything, but two things
El cucuy and sometimes her chancla.
I was raised in a ear pulling, frijole smelling, cumbia playing
Aroz con leche, me quiero casar....As a kid I wouldn't sing that songI'd skip over marrying a woman as if nursery rhymes could out me But I would hum señorita like agreeing I find myself in my fifth grade classroom where I would hide my crush on M
It took me 18 years18 years of living here and there in the U.S.To begin to love who I amWhere I come fromTo not be embarrassedTo love my peopleTo embrace being LatinaTo understand being ChicanaAnd in 18 yearsI have become someone 14 year old me w
I’m not from here
I’m not from there
Most won’t begin to understand
Do you even speak English?
There’s no way you know Spanish
I am a chicana, but I used to not believe it. I know my family, where they came from.That's not the problem. It's others. To them, being Mexican is a checklist: Speak Spanish? Uncheck. Eat spicy food? Uncheck. Brown skin?
Because I have imperfect Spanish,
I am never Mexican enough to those who speak better than me
Because I have imperfect English,
I am always too Mexican for those who speak better than me
Hated onAnd beat uponBecause the way they live Is "wrong" Who are you to take the role Go and take another's soul
I’d forgotten how to breathe without you, my lung crutchMy shiny exotic lung crutchMany gazed upon us greenly,and you fit so well
