Butterfly: A Poem of the Unspoken Traumas of Immigration for the “American Dream”

Adriana Gonzalez-Ibarra, Staff Writer 

I remember the first time I took flight and I didn’t expect the wind to push against me as hard as it did on that September morning.

I was told by others before me that the wind was supposed to guide me in the direction that they had called the “American Dream” 

We have flown over 265 miles and this was just in one day. We have more than two months left before we make it to this so-called dreamland where we are welcomed with love and compassion. 

But this journey is not easy in the slightest way possible because the sun has gotten to the point where its burning parts of our wings making it harder to fly and some have fallen into the river and never made it out of its currents then others gave out after the heat had gotten to them and never made it past the desert. 

Yet for the ones that made it we noticed that we weren’t the only ones flying in this foreign land known as the American Dream there were other butterflies flying as if they knew our struggle. 

Their wings resemble that of our own but then I realized that they were moths and the words they were telling had become bittersweet. 

Those words at first were welcome to your new home we can’t wait to see the dream you achieve then turned bittersweet to the point that it was nothing but “ Go back to your country” “This is America you speak English” “you don’t belong here” “you are the reason we have criminals in this country” 

After so long those words become nothing but white noise behind the sound of the wings against the cages they had placed us in 

I never would have thought I would see myself separated from the kaleidoscope of those who I had known as home

Then not to mention those born on this dreamland never knowing the beauty of their parents’ homeland because they can never return without the permission of the moths 

Yet we as legacies for a better life found a way to fight for not only ourselves but those who have had their wings cut and make them heard from beyond the white noise 

Because if the “American Dream” is who they say they are, why is it that they continue to look at us as if we don’t exist in their melting pot of diversity and the dream of a better life.

Kids in Love for the Rest of Time / Niños enamorados por el resto de tiempo

By Adriana Gonzalez-Ibarra, Staff Writer

I never would have thought to see kids in love for the rest of time

That's probably one of the most wholesome experiences one could ever have 

Is to be with the one that you have loved since you were children and have your own life together

There was a time where I didn't have the representation of love that was healthy growing up 

Then I realized I did I just wasn't paying attention to the little things 

That love was the love my abuelo and abuela shared with one another 

They were kids when they meet and have been inseparable since then 

They knew they were kids but knew a love like theirs would last for the rest of time 

Then before you knew it they had kids of their own that were formed out of the love they had for each other 

Each of them are special in their own way that made them the parents they were and with that taught their children what love was supposed to look like 

I always remember my mother telling me stories about my abuelitos and how their love was something that was one of a kind and that she wished for this experience in her life 

Then I would always tell her that she gave birth to someone that loved her just as much and she would always laugh and smile and say, "yes mija I did"

Now to think that 53 years with someone is not enough time to love someone in my opinion 

Because since my abuelo lost my abuela in April of this year he still makes time to go see her 

Which includes him crossing the border every day with roses just to see la alma de su vida

And nothing has ever broke me enough until my abuelo told me that he sees her every day 

Por qué ella fue la amor más especial en su vida para siempre 

And I cry for him every time I think of my grandparents 

They were 15 and 16 when they met and fell in love 

Then without a doubt got married when they were 16 and 17 on May 19th of 1969 

They may not have had the most elegant life but it was one full of amor that they only understood and it showed to those around them 

They were one another’s peace and chaos and it was one of the most beautiful things that they experienced which I saw growing up 

My abuelo was always so gentle with my abuela and she was only ever calm with him and the people she truly cared about 

Their way of showing love was something I look for even in my own life and I catch myself imitating them especially for those I deeply care for 

Those people know who they are 

They had all 5 love languages and always showed them to each other without hesitation 

There was a point in my life where I knew that I wanted a love like that 

Because whenever I talk to my abuelo about my abuela

There is this look in his eyes that still lights up as if it was the first time he saw her 

He never fails to tell me that she was the love of his life and wished he had all the time in the world to hold her once more and to tell her that he loved her with his whole heart 

They were simply who they have always been for 53 years 

 Niños enamorados por el resto de tiempo