Voice

I am shy, I am a man of few words 

I have always been

Since I was a kid 

If you speak to me, you will notice 

Half of what I say makes no sense 

I constantly confuse the past present with the past tense 

And I tensed up, my pronunciation is wrong 

I’m swimming a pool of words

But there are too many that I just give up

And prefer to drown

I have no voice

My grandma used to say that 

To drink water I would just point towards the water 

My family thought I was mute 

I couldn’t speak until I was 5 years old 

The reason? I don’t know 

At school I was known for being quiet the entire day

I had questions, I had concerns

But I wouldn’t share, I wouldn’t ask, I wouldn’t care

It was like jail

Thick iron bars in front of me, thousands of thousands of things keep happening

But I could only see, I could only feel, I could only hear

I couldn’t change anything

I had no power

I had no voice in me

In 7th grade my writing and reading skills were better than anyone else in the class

I was one out of 2 that could read more than 200 words in less than a minute

When reading I felt like I was able to fly

I felt like a surfer taking its first wave

Arms where free, mind was free

Taking an apple from a tree

It was pure honey and I was just a small bee

But still

I had no voice in me

I was chasing new words in my free time

learning new definitions was my freestyle 

I believed I could use my words as the sharp katana of a samurai and cut through metal like cutting an apple pie

But all I had were thoughts

I had no voice

But then all of a sudden, I had to move to another country

A country full of unknowns and uncertainty 

A place where I had no voice

And where I couldn’t even read

In other words, misery

I was a dove that couldn’t fly

Then my wings got cut off

I was a dog who couldn’t bark

Then I got leashed up 

Moreover, I had no voice

This country gives you freedom of speech 

What about those who can’t speak?

What about those whose words are not complete?

What about those whose language proficiency level is not enough to compete? 

Then your only option is to stay silent

Sometimes our only option is to stay in silence 

My only option was to stay in silent because I had no voice

I had no voice but I had hope, 

I am a man of few words but that doesn’t mean I have no words to back me up

Because when I start to drown I come to float 

Wanna know how the story ends? 

Well, I ask you then 

Can you hear my voice today?

Can you hear me free falling off a cliff? 

Can you hear me daring the devil eye to eye without fear? 

Can you hear me jumping to the next tree? 

Can you hear me putting words together not 1 not 2 but 3?

Can you hear how I articulate my words?

Can you hear the flight of this dove? 

Can you hear me running off? 

Don’t try to put this fire off

I ask one last time 

Can you hear my voice?