My Life

My entire childhood I was trapped
I was trapped with my name
With my sister
With my house
I was trapped on Mango Street.

I wanted to escape
I wanted to leave it all
I wanted to have a best friend
I wanted a new name
I wanted a new house.

My life was hard
People take advantage
People make fun
People are mean.

But I am able to escape from it all
I can escape from the name
From Mango Street
From people
From my life
I can escape from everything
Simply by the power of the pen.

-Esperanza