Silver Lining | Finding Inspiration in Unexpected Moments (Poetry)

I drove 1.5 hours on 880 South from San Francisco to Fremont for my morning commute. Parked in the parking lot of the Tesla Factory. I procrastinated walking into work. I sat in my car and scrolled through Instagram to unwind from the traffic. I read a quote a dear friend posted:

“You can’t have a million-dollar dream with a minimum wage work ethic.” -Stephen C. Hogan

Reading it had me confront feeling suffocated. The words poured out of me. I immediately wrote down my thoughts in my Notes app:

Silver Lining | Written September 9, 2016

Brown girls

Don’t make it

Out of these streets

Untouched,

Coming up in America

Unscathed.

They put in 1 percent,

Yet you are expected to give 99.

I keep it 100.

They have lit a fire in us,

There is no turning back from.

Tell us to prove our worth,

Fighting our way through,

Exhausted.

Challenge to challenge,

At no time have I been

Offered anything

On a silver platter.

Have you?

Page 52, I Write Letters in my Thoughts

🇪🇬🥭🇬🇾 Name dipped in mango | | منى خليل | #iwritelettersinmythoughts | www.monakhalil.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook @iammonakhalil