Things I wish I had known
I wish I had known how to speak.
I should have learned more Spanish,
so I would be able to connect
with people from my country...
with my family.
I shouldn't have talked so much;
I got called annoying for speaking my mind and being friendly.
The things I didn’t know.
It isn’t my fault.
It wasn’t my fault that I didn’t know what true love looked like.
It wasn’t my fault I didn’t know how draining school could be.
It wasn’t my fault I didn’t know how cruel society worked.
It wasn’t my fault I didn’t know everyone's childhood culture.
It wasn’t my fault I didn’t learn Spanish as well as others.
It wasn’t my fault;
I speak my mind, try to be friendly, and try to be myself.
Every name I was called,
Every mean memory of me,
are the me of the past.
No one took the time to realize that people change;
No one took the time to really get to know me,
because they are all their own space,
In their own world, where they rule.
Well guess what?
I, too, rule my own world.
I make my own decisions, too.
I can get toxic friends, too.
I am one of you;
I am one of you in my own, unique way.
I am me.
Things I wish I had known.
I wish I knew I that no one’s opinion mattered
as much as my own.
I wish I knew that I own the way I have lived,
and still live.
I own my life.
Joanie Reyes