Look at me

Our Southern Border, 2019​

Look at me.  
Do you see me?
I am Somebody.
I am somebody’s.
I am a daughter,
a sister,
a friend.
I like to play, I love math, I cook with Abuela.
I sing my brother to sleep.

Look at me.
I have feelings - 
I love, I laugh, I cry.
I get angry, I know fear, I know tenderness.

Look at me.
I could become a singer,
a teacher, an astronaut.
I might cure cancer.

Look at me.
Do you see me?
I could be Your Daughter,
Your Sister,
Your Friend.

Look at me, behind this chainlink fence.  
You think you know me.
You do not.
I am Somebody.

I am a girl.

©Shirley K. Weyrauch, 2019
This was written at the 2019 International Women's Writing Guild summer workshop during a session led by Dorothy Randall Gray.