Genre: inspirational and feminist

Uncle, this is war paint
by Kimberly Cruz-Alvarado

“I.
I am a girl
I am a daughter of fire
I am made of explosions and stardust
My mind is made of galaxies
My bloodstream is made out of sun rays
My body is electricity

II.
In fairy tales, I am the princess who saves herself
I melted my gold crown into a sword
The one I used to slay the dragon outside my tower
I radiate power

III.
You think you can tame me?
You think I am a princess?
No, honey, I am a queen and I am the king
Remember, that I gave you everything.

IV.
Your mother bore you into this life
She carried and nurtured you to good health
Your father busted a nut and left her
How dare you
Treat women as if they are beneath you.

V.
I think what is often misunderstood is how both genders are equal
Women were not born with enough testosterone to equal a man’s physical strength
Men were not born with enough estrogen to equal a woman’s endurance of physical pain
Both genders possess the equal amount of strengths and weaknesses
And vary between the given situation

VI.
When I told my classroom in 2nd grade that I wanted to be a firefighter everyone laughed
I went home and cried because all I wanted to do was save lives
My mother held me close and whispered magic
She said, “Mi amor, you can be anything.”
And still to this day, I have to replay her words because I am terrified of forgetting it
Because there are moments in my life where I forget that being female should never hold me back
That despite the burden my gender has carried for centuries, we have always persevered
That being female does not make me weak.

VII.
When you command me to accept that my purpose is to cater to the men in our family
You are telling me that my life is not mine
You are telling me that all this potential I have on the tips of my fingers are a waste
You are telling me that I am not human
That my dreams will only be dreams
But did you know that you can kill the dreamer, but you cannot kill the dream
You cannot kill my dreams
And I am not sorry when I defy you
You cannot burn me with your lightning bolts
You cannot silence me with your thunderstorms
This should not be war
But I have never been afraid to fight for what is right”

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