In This Community

Chong Lor

There are things that require no recalling. 

They are here in the morning, they are here in the evening. 

The chilling moment I found out what being born a daughter in this community meant. 

Like a sharp object threatening to pierce your skin, and the person behind it the people that you call uncles. 

Because in this community, you have no say. 

Because in this community, you have no spot at the table. 

Because in this community, you must “endure and be patient” and everything will be okay when you know it won’t. 

Black, blue, belittled. 

I witness the violence that many women have to endure. 

Misogynistic, patriarchal, polygamy. 

It irks me, like something beating me up from the inside as I dig my nail into myself from the out, wishing this feeling would go away. 

The hot steam arises from the freshly made rice. 

I witness the many women I look up to scramble around the kitchen.

Sounds of laughter, gossip, and music cover the downside of this culture I had thought was so great. 

This scenery through the eyes of a ten year old may seem normal, but in this community it is taught to be the norm. 

Dreading at this nightmare, and I tell myself I will never let such a thing happen to me. It is the one thing I fear the most.