Poem-a-Day - "You Know Me" by Valeria Ruiz

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November 2, 2024 

You Know Me

Valeria Ruiz

Dear President,

I’m a Hispanic immigrant
You know me
You’ve heard me.

But you don’t

You know my story
You know where I’m from
You know what I look for
You know what I want.

But you don’t

Like thousands of people
Like thousands of stories
I’m a Hispanic immigrant
But you don’t know me.

I left pinolillo y cacao helado
Fritangas los viernes en la noche
Nacatamal los fines de semana
A mi abuela en la casa

Al perrito que quedó solo y llorando
A mi Nicaragua

Mi Nicaragua y su rica cultura
Sus hermosas playas y volcanes ardientes
Su gente amorosa y hermosa

I left my Nicaragua hoping
That my future would look brighter here

I left hoping

Y todo por el
“American Dream”

El American Dream que se va desvaneciendo
The longer I stay
Because the longer I stay
I realize
I am not heard
I am not seen
And I am not wanted here

“Permanent residency or citizenship”
Is the first requisite for any scholarship

Because I have to be one of them
I have to be an American
I have to speak English
In order to have real opportunities

Because while I’m still Hispanic
While I’m still an immigrant
There’s no American Dream

¿Y el sueño americano?

With no scholarships
How do I pay ten thousand dollars per year?
How can my immigrant parents with immigrants’ jobs pay ten thousand dollars per year for each of their children? Or even one?

Where’s the American Dream for them?

There isn’t one
Cause they can’t speak English
And they have to be American

The American Dream
That promised we could study, work, live
Fades away

And if there are so many stories like mine?
If there are so many people like me
If they decide to take away my identity and label me as just another immigrant
If presidents, Americans, put all of us into one group
If they assume that they know each one of our stories and each one of our needs
If they think their system is fair
If they think that they’re helping us
If they think they know what’s best for us
If they know immigrants so well
Then how are we still not seen?
How are we still so overlooked?
How are we still so overworked?

Working for a government that does not want us in their country
That is the American Dream.

From Let This Be Our Anthem: Call to Action from Young Writers to the Next President (826 National, 2024). Copyright © 2024 826 National. Used with the permission of the author. Published in Poem-a-Day on November 2, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.

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“I wrote this poem during a time of deep hopelessness about my future and education as a Hispanic immigrant in the United States. It reflects my frustration with the systemic inequalities that often favor those with financial advantages, leaving immigrants like me feeling like outsiders in a country that’s supposed to offer opportunities. As I watched my friends with citizenship access the resources I really wanted, I felt unwanted, and a wave of longing for my home country. This poem expresses the frustration of feeling overlooked and unheard despite our dreams and aspirations.”
Valeria Ruiz 

Valeria Ruiz was born in Nicaragua and migrated to the United States with her family. Her poem “You Know Me” appears in 826 National’s anthology Let This Be Our Anthem: Call to Action from Young Writers to the Next President (2024). She is a high school senior in Woodburn, Oregon.  
 
Let This Be Our Anthem: Call to Action from Young Writers to the Next President
(826 National, 2024)

“Based on a prompt from New York Times bestselling author Javier Zamora, students share their stories, personal histories, and thoughts on the issues that matter most to them. This book represents a collective call to action, with pieces ranging from personal anecdotes about the life of a student in the United States to poems about the American Dream to well-researched articles on major social and political issues.” Learn more at 826national.org.

About this special edition of Poem-a-Day

Valeria Ruiz’s poem “You Know Me” is featured in Poem-a-Day as part of a collaboration between the Academy of American Poets and 826 National, the largest youth writing network in the country, amplifying the impact of youth writing and publishing centers and the voices of young authors. In Let This Be Our Anthem: Call to Action from Young Writers to the Next President, students, ages eight to eighteen, raise issues that matter most to them and write directly to the next president of the United States.

“Rally” by Elizabeth Alexander
read more
“You Are Who I Love” by Aracelis Girmay
read more
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