I am... by Lizette Galima Tapia-Raquel


I am your mother, sister, lover or daughter
I am adored, derided, enslaved, and empowered
I am the one you know and you must know that we are many
Our numbers are unfathomable but we are not counted because of patriarchy

We close our eyes to build a world beyond the boxes
We peek through our lashes and whisper a cry through the crevices
We listen to the voice in the soul we once silenced
We walk away from the places we once believed were made for our existence

We thought the journey towards the unfamiliar
Would be lonely, terrifying and full of despair
But we became sisters and danced together in the moonlight
We were never alone, not even when the path was barren and bare

We are mother, sister, lover and daughter
We are birthed. We bleed. We conceive and sustain the earth.
We step down from our pedestals and rise up from bended knee.
We lock arms and stand shoulder to shoulder so that every woman can be free.

By Lizette Galima Tapia-Raquel, posted with permission of the author

Art by Tamara Adams

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