Our Family Is Beautiful
Our family is beautiful
I am not talking about
Our straight, black hair
Our delicate, determined facade
Our values that you can feel on our palms
from working more than our share
to keep the family off the streets
Our family is beautiful
Even when fear takes over our faces
when we walk down the street
You can never tell what people are thinking
And some of us are now marred by bruises
Eyes are supposed to see
But now they become a pain to open
And hurtful words
We closed our eyes even at the sound of birds
You can never tell what they say
I cannot walk alone anymore
Not just because I am female
Now tell me,
Should I be afraid to speak my language
Or is my appearance the target
For another scar, bruise
or the neverending spat of hateful words
Because being sick is an act of danger
We are the supposed danger
Standing up for ourselves once again
As if the past has not been enough
Lips sealed tight while we keep moving forward
Holding our coughs like holding our tongue
Because we have more to say even with face masks
Those face masks cover our breath
But it will never conceal our vocal chords, our truths
This is mine
My family
And my family is beautiful
It’s just the scars others made
that are ugly
Jena Lui comes from Flourtown, PA. She is an Honors Student from Susquehanna University with a Publishing & Editing and Creative Writing double major and minor in Women and Gender Studies. She is a writer for Susquehanna’s chapter of HerCampus. Her deep appreciation for reading and writing has deep roots from her teachers in high school. It helped her break out of the mold of who people thought she should be. Coming from a Chinese background, she has used her love for her culture to grow an appreciation for herself and the ideas of authenticity. If she had the ability to do anything other than be socially isolated, she would take the time to go on walks. For her, those walks are not only meant to seek inspiration but to remember that it is the little things in life that make it beautiful.