All Nonfiction
- Bullying
- Books
- Academic
- Author Interviews
- Celebrity interviews
- College Articles
- College Essays
- Educator of the Year
- Heroes
- Interviews
- Memoir
- Personal Experience
- Sports
- Travel & Culture
All Opinions
- Bullying
- Current Events / Politics
- Discrimination
- Drugs / Alcohol / Smoking
- Entertainment / Celebrities
- Environment
- Love / Relationships
- Movies / Music / TV
- Pop Culture / Trends
- School / College
- Social Issues / Civics
- Spirituality / Religion
- Sports / Hobbies
All Hot Topics
- Bullying
- Community Service
- Environment
- Health
- Letters to the Editor
- Pride & Prejudice
- What Matters
- Back
Summer Guide
- Program Links
- Program Reviews
- Back
College Guide
- College Links
- College Reviews
- College Essays
- College Articles
- Back
Girl
The color of my skin
matters more than the soul within.
The shape of my lips and my eyes
is of greater value than my cries.
Cries of suffering and hurt
over the opinions on me you always assert.
I am considered a subpart of man
but expected to create life more than.
Never given a secondary thought.
Insufficient, your eye uncaught.
What is the point of my education?
My dreams and goals and ambition?
For my identity is not my own.
Rather, crafted with relations sown.
I am not my own life;
I am my husband's wife.
My children's mother.
My brothers' sister.
My parents' daughter.
A part of me, each holds onto.
My past, present, and future self.
Until I am nothing and no one by myself.
That is the reason, you see.
Why I must bring up this urgent plea.
For this inequality manifests in everything.
To me it is clearer even
than the sound of my own breathing.
Similar Articles
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
This article has 0 comments.
My name is Umiemah and I am a rising junior at UCLA, currently pursuing a bachelors in Psychology and a progressive master, after which I plan to attend grad school. I spend the little free time I have reading anything I can get my hands on, and writing pieces of my own. Poetry is one of my dearest passions, and I have been writing since elementary school when I submitted my work to a national poetry journal and got selected for publication. Throughout my life poetry is how I've made sense of my emotions, it helps me understand what I am feeling and how to work through my feelings and thoughts. When I am not doing any of the above, I love to go hiking because it reminds me of my hometown in Canada, and trying out new coffee shops in LA because excessive caffeine consumption is my best vice. Being able to write means everything to me, and I hope you enjoy my poems as much as I did writing them!
Thank you.