Voice

Es difícil escuchar mi voz cuando se vive entre tanto ruido
Cuando despierto y me siento vacío mientras la vida me va desbordando
Los bombardeos de información caen certeros sobre mis oídos
Y ya no distingo mis pensamientos de las mentiras que nos enseñaron

Influencers need people to influence
So I haven't been on social media in months

Ya no soy yo el que me habla en las noches
Son la ansiedad y la depresión que disfrazadas de perfección toman el micrófono
Y entran en acción para hacer su show en las redes sociales

I could no longer tell who's voice was mine
I could no longer afford the toll of the troll
I could no longer see the bridges between us
My world had grown too vast and too small
I could no longer fight for the attention of those unwilling to like a post, much less like people

When you're trapped in an echo chamber and full of self-doubt
It's hard to sort through the endless static, volume all the way up
Countless frequencies you're tuned into, ones you never opted into
But you can't easily hit unsubscribe from Life

I came to the conclusion that these platforms are businesses built to sell us as products
Mark Zuckerberg's dishing out dopamine hits like they're heroin
Jeff Bezos' making a fortune to achieve his dream of colonizing Mars
Because colonization worked so well the first time

Even when it's all talking heads, breaking news
Cycle upon cycle of chopped footage that starts to desensitize you
They paraphrase clickbait refrains that begin to sound like gibberish
They get people primed to tap away with bite-sized retweets and reshares
Quoting each other's palatable soundbites in 150 characters or less
Spamming their networks with a great American novella stuffed with hashtags

La incertidumbre es la madre de todos los males
Y hoy que lo sabemos todo, no sabemos nada de nosotros mismos
Me pregunto qué pensamientos le pertenecen a mi autoría
Si tendré ideas que sean mías o solo repito lo que voy escuchando

What ideas are even our own anymore

I've been listening for the voices of my... our ancestors
I still do not speak in their tongue
I'm starting to hear them
Transcribe them
Translate them

Ya no sé bien quién lleva el mando
Emisor, receptor, mensaje, ruido
Todo es un zumbido en mi cabeza y el silencio no viene a salvarme

I've been building bridges
This is one of them
I doubt its quality, but that's not up to me to decide

It involves digging deep to find the origins of a few threads
Getting down to dirty research on a few topics
Searching with wide eyes for the blood, sweat, and tears of honest people
Behind the sea of bots and quick to copy paste trigger fingers
It's keeping ourselves and others accountable with fact checks
Checking our gut reaction and then act accordingly
Keep hold tightly to honest self reflection, to empathy

El silencio perdió su voz
El silencio ya no dice nada
Contamos historias en quince segundos que luego olvidamos en tres
Porque no hay tiempo que perder, hay tanto para ver que ya no puedo repetir
Mis películas favoritas sin sentirme culpable

The most likely outcome
These words will get lost in the deluge of information
You'll remember what it was like to scroll, but you'll forget every moment
Your life will be no different
I say these words anyway

It's emotionally exhausting
But I'd rather stagger along under my own power
Keep fighting to find my voice
Until even my great, great, great grandchildren can speak truth
Drag their own amps and mics through the bloody dust behind them
Prop portable generators up beside those who are losing steam
The ones who've been shouting for years
The ones who have been straining their vocal chords back centuries
To make up for those who never found their voice
Those who were silenced before they even reached their prime

I want them to see that when I spoke my poetry, I opened my mouth
And my voice became interwoven, amplified with other voices
Of all my ancestors before me
Of all those who fight to survive
Of all those trying to join the broadcast
That amplify true voices, the strong voices
Until together they began to drown out the static

El mundo espera que esté enterado de las noticias y yo solo quiero hacer canciones
Solo quiero desconectarme para saber cómo sueno por dentro
Solo quiero recordar el sonido de mi voz