How many times could you use the broken shards of a mirror to make new ones until you can’t anymore?
I would’ve never come so far if I didn’t have the support of those around me, so that’s my word. I’m every drop of blood that came before me, the good, bad, and ugly. And like each person before me thought, I think I’m going to be the drop to change it all for those who come after me. And maybe I won’t cross continents to give my kids a better shot at life, but maybe I’ll be the one who opens a conversation about mental health. The poem is about the struggle between identity and inheritance: nature vs nurture. Do we decide who we get to be, or do we have to live with the code programmed within us because that’s who we are? I don’t know, and I don’t know when I will know, but I know that the accountability of my actions doesn’t escape me and land on my parents. The structure of the poem mirrors this fragmentation. Short, broken lines and repeated phrases reinforce emotional instability and confusion. Dare I say there’s fear in repeating unhealthy patterns due to developed self-awareness? It’s like a kaleidoscope, the poem; it changes messages depending on how you look at it. The best thing you could tell me is that you see a different perspective through these same words. Because my word isn’t yours, even if it’s the same one.








