I am Puerto Rican

         

I am Puerto Rican

I don't party on the weekends

I have three children

They don't always listen

I'm so tired of stereotypes because I'm a Latina on welfare

How else will I provide care

I worked hard for eight years

Alone and crying stressful tears

A mother without her two boys

Paying child support

Watching my son play with his toys

Getting played as if I was a sport

Became pregnant again at twenty-nine

Believing that he was all mine

A relationship build on lies

My heart belonged to someone else

While he slept with someone else

I got myself together

Getting my boys to be home forever

Single parent living in New York City Housing Authority

I guess to the rich I'm just a low life with no priorities

No fuck that! Soon enough you won't look down on me

I refuse to be a statistic of families in poverty

I've gone through so much in my life

I'm still amazed that I'm still standing and alive

I am Puerto Rican

My story doesn't just End.

BY: Zoraida Ramirez