not much of choice, get married or become a whore at 19, she was trapped between a sword and another sword either way sheβs trapped and kept away from the life she really wanted to live either way, her fate would be sealed with her ink of shame
never set out to become a feminist but somehow ended up becoming everything opposite of what I was taught a woman should be in my young girlβs mind a husband and children should have made me happy even when I observed all of the women around drown in misery always complaining about their husbands and kids I thought that maybe with me, itβd be different and when I found myself in my grown up conditioned woman narrative I almost tried to die in that reality and knew it was never for me and for a while I searched for answers in others until I looked within and understood, i alone am magic I alone without a man am really enough and the only one responsible for my happiness and to make my dreams come true all a man ever did was drag me down and made me feel like the dirt on his shoe or like an ornament to take out at times for his convenience and when I realized all of this thatβs when I became an unintentional feminist, unapologetic and unashamed to be the woman I always wanted to be but had been too afraid to embrace until my middle age
nunca serΓ‘ la mujer de tu vida y me toca aceptar esta realidad que alguien como tu siempre me mirara como alguien comΓΊn y nunca pensarΓ‘s que quizΓ‘s soy algo mΓ‘s que una mujer bella nunca notaras que soy el fuego de inspiraciΓ³n que puede ser tu musa
I wrote this poem in January of 2020. Maybe I was mad at the patriarchy or just feeling weighed down by the expectations that society has on women. I know that for me, it has been a huge burden at times to constantly keep up an appearance that I am put together balanced woman even if I am falling apart.
me in January of 2020
The strength we have to carry as women is obscene Endless expectations weigh on us generation after generation We are buried in the burdens that society has placed on us since before we were born Be pretty but donβt show your body Be smart but we donβt want your opinion Be motherly and nurturing but still a working and productive member of society It is a never ending nightmare to try to reach the ridiculous standards placed upon our beauty, wealth, and motherhood Some of us seem to do it with grace Some of us are barely hanging on by a thread Quite a few of us would rather die than continue with the facade and the myth of a balanced woman.
Alfonsina Storni found me on a cold november night and it was what my spirit needed to be resuscitated into feeling something Alfonsina Storni found me on a cold november night and I couldnβt wait to show mami she dedicated Hombre PequeΓ±ito to Papi and we laugh at his expense for a minute Alfonsina Storni found me on a cold november night and I watched her 1957 bio pic with mami we stood in awe at how progressive it was for its time but at the same time understood how much progress still needed to be made for woman kind
I met him outside on a hot July night he was everything I was not looking for but it was a devastatingly short fall and then I was lost in him and everything I wanted him to be It wasnβt fair to him or I expectations that were sky high with him I wanted everything but he wasnβt ready to be my love king Perhaps he was just a preview for a future love dream come true
I wouldnβt visit your grave a second time once you died youβre not worth my time, youβre not worth my energy Iβd already would be forced to say my goodbyes at your passing due to our familial connections and I want to be respectful to my sister and nephews but after that I never want to think about you again with your death I want to bury the harm done-the trauma you caused and move on
sometimes I wish you were here- so you could share your wisdom, so you could explain your truth I followed in your footsteps of being a teenage mom And it would have ripped me apart to have abandoned my son so Iβm wondering how you did it- were you full of guilt or was it because of your lack of options how did you survive being away from your child and go on with your life as if he was an afterthought Perhaps Iβm judging you harshly and I donβt understand the whole story I just want it to make sense
I wish I could forgive everyone who did me harm- but something in me won’t allow me too maybe itβs unprocessed trauma that still wants to speak- about every single atrocity Iβve experienced at the hands of those who said they care for me and love me I really wish I was better than this- constantly holding onto these old grudges but something in me still needs to heal so I can stop obsessing about revenge
in 2021, I ventured from the moon and landed on the ace of pentacles never expecting to experience a revolution of self love never expecting to one day feel like I was enough but when I found myself down and alone with no one to lift me up I had to find my inner strength, my queen resilience to slowly lift myself up and walk and eventually run towards the light my ancestors turned on for me it became a marathon of healing with ugly twists where I stumbled at times but eventually I found a rhythm in my routine that was conducive to my healing journey and I learned to dance with life life no longer happened to me as I sat quietly and in my misery this time I danced with life stomping my feet loudly and dramatically no longer caring what others thoughts of me from that moment on I became the heroine and my own muse in my life movie owning everything that happened to me Understanding the power and magic I always held within had been and will always be too much for others but it will always be right for me
Trauma after trauma I have withstood Standing up right away and pretending everything was fine There was no time for tears or processing of feelings That was a luxury for the white upper class Therapy-pssst No time or money for that either – It’s gringo concept Self care – thatβs only for the rich No, you’re a latina Woman our people rely on grit and resilience There is no time for white pendejadas No, you’re a latina woman – you only need the strength from your ancestors to survive this life
The rain falls steadily in Autumn and I remember the 9 days in the summer When the tears wouldn’t quit raining from my eyes The eternal emotional pain wouldn’t stop the lonely nights I couldn’t sleep the infinite anger and sadness that I felt the emptiness that wouldn’t go away the food I couldn’t eat. And yet I still woke up every day with a determination to live live for my kids live for my friends live for myself even at my worst, even at my most vulnerable Somehow, I managed managed to find strength managed to find inspiration and somehow managed to find my way back to myself Summer was the season I died when I was rejected by the one who claimed to love me Autumn is the season I was reborn and I fell back in love with myself, forgot him and fell into the magic that is me