Vidas Y Valores

Never Imagined

They say I should be treated like the Mona Lisa
observed from afar, admired for my beauty,
discussed but never brought into the discussion.

Learn to cook tamales for the holidays,
sew buttons for my future husband’s shirts,
because no man wants a useless woman. Don’t cry. It’s a sign of unnecessary weakness. Man up. Play with trucks, shoot toy guns,
learn how to throw the first punch. My physical strength. The only one that matters. So I sit in the back of the classroom
and listen for my name. No one knows about my dreams
to stand  ...