By Chandra Persaud
PROMPT — Who am I today?
I am the daughter of women
Displaced
Raped
Chased
Shaped
By a history that cannot be undone
For history leaves a mark
Traces in faces
In books, in songs
In the stories we tell ourselves
In the stories we pass on
I am the bearer of untold stories
The daughter of women with
Whispered truths
Muffled cries
Drowned voices
Drowned out to protect, to hide
Their most mangled parts
And so, tragedy becomes normalized
I am the knower of unknown stories
Women undocumented
Their voices undocumented too
Lost in the wind
Engulfed at sea
Their truth buried in the soil
They toiled
For they were not human beings
Only human bodies
I am the successor of multiple migrations
India to Guyana to America
The asker of the perennial question
Where is my land?
The seeker of tomorrow
Where will I land?
I am the inheritor of multiple identities
Slave worker
Foreigner
Survivor
Creator
And it is in this role—Creator
That I become the writer
Of my own story
Not yet completed
Being authored
To honor
The women before me
And to alter
What history will say
About women like me
Chandra Persaud is a New York State licensed speech-language pathologist. When she is not improving the communication abilities of her clients, Chandra enjoys writing poetry (IG: @pieces_of_acp), short stories, and reflective pieces on topics such as love, heartbreak, identity, and self-actualization. She was born in Guyana, traces her roots to India, immigrated to the United States at the age of two, and was raised in New York City. She is passionate about voicing the stories and realities of Indo-Caribbean* girls and young women raised in the U.S. to shine light on inner conflicts and contemplation that often arise when two cultures collide. Chandra writes from Brooklyn, NY.
*women who trace their ancestry to India with recent ancestors living in the Caribbean diaspora