Voz

Aidan Gabriel Romero Orozco

Voz

Left and right

Battered and bruised

Soft faces with darker hues

Rough hands that can tell a story on their own

And the beauty in the words we speak

Make the pain we endure bearable 

So we can make it to the peak

We grow up in wars

And leave in search of more

We hope they can understand

But instead they tell us to go back to the other land

Agents come around banging at the door

Hoping to deport the people that they don’t want here anymore

This doesn’t always happen right away

Sometimes generations can go by

And they continue to say 

The same things

That we’ve heard since the day

We crossed over the line

To find a life more divine 

Why do we do it

What’s it all for

The hardships and struggles

That we’ve had to endure

It’s for the opportunity

It’s to live the American dream

We work day and night

To achieve even a fraction of what they promise

It’s not like this for all that push through

Some of us battle the barrier

And break it down

Work the jobs los gringos don’t want

And rise above

Above the expectation

Above the prejudice

Es Nuestro Momento

It’s our time

nuestro tiempo para que nuestras voces sean escuchadas

Our time to have our voices heard

So that one day

Our voices unite

Until the accents fade together

And become una voz.