America
By Andrea Ayala
America, home of the brave and the free
America, you are proud and preach this for the world to hear
but yet easily criticize others who fail to imitate this
America, why do you turn your head away from actual equality and freedom
You sit there and watch as the streets are filled with the blood of your Brown and Black children
America, you preach justice but justice is never given
At least not for everyone
America, you pick and choose who gets to live a life of freedom and comfort but allow the other half to live in a world of barriers and mistreatment
America, why don’t you practice what you preach?
Identity
By Olivia Martinez
To the little girl unaware of her identity,
Her beauty of the culture from which she cultivates.
She will never believe her bronze skin is anything but a tan
Insecure that her knees will always be darker
And the closest color to her friends is that of the palm of her hand.
Her thick cocoa hair blazes her neck at recess,
only wish being for it to glow blonde
Freeing her neck and shoulders of rising temperatures.
Soon will she realize the porcelain complexions are
Envying her perfectly golden skin,
Admiring the fullness of her hair.
They long for her natural spanish beauty,
Craving for her identity.
Some Side
By Genesis Ellen
Once again he had found himself a spy
A steady wolf with an indignant eye
Latched to his pressures with a false alibi
A meek soul who’s ego had just gone too high
Puzzled by the vast inquisition that passed him by
An aged pretender still gripping to the sky
He’ll never make it without you or me
The silk caresses my shoulder blades
The way you love to do
It lays with meaning
Protecting me
Undressing
By Olivia Martinez
Cotton on delicate skin
Replaces the hold i used to crave
Straps dig into my skin
It gets under just the same
Impale me with the underwire you robbed,
Trailing with meters and meters of elastic
Unaware of the consequences to come.
Fracture
By Genesis Ellen
Light stays waiting on the edge of my shadow
Close alongside with no room left to grow
Little do I know
With its lackluster mysteries driven through me in fear
Whispering my secrets for only us to hear
Across newly formed bridges of thoughts streaming in the ear
Ashamed, it is these bleak ideas, taking storage in the clear
For from mistakes that were swelled in the heat of their fury
I’ve learned ways to cross over in less of a hurry
And show once and for all, my shadow, that my soul’s no longer so blurry
Julia
By Olivia Martinez
Look at us 18, and thriving
We take it day by day.
I love looking back,
Before braces,
Before boys,
Before i considered you a friend.
The baja to my blast
Family to my guy
Someone who was always there,
My light at the end of the tunnel.
Blink and we’re 800 miles away
Facetime every single day,
I’ll see you thanksgiving break.