A girl of 13 years, fresh mind, fresh soul.  In the middle of childhood and adulthood, she had big dreams.  From sunny California, away from the snow, She would achieve them by any means. I, Me, a girl full of glee, Seeing and hearing the world  With eyes of positivity. Crash, boom, The world is falling  It’s time to Speak up while smiling Terror wraps around me I’m up on stage, people howling I recite, say, cry They respite, nay, sigh I did my job. Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem My name is Lyla Elsayed and I am 13 years old. At this age, many people would assume we are too young to speak up about our values, too naive to see the world for what and who it really is. But really? We are more capable than any adult. In creativity, we shine. In critical thinking, we exceed. And in seeing things, well, we beat you to it. We saw Trump coming, we saw Biden coming, we saw Palestine coming, and best of all, we saw the shoe coming. But on a serious note, why don’t we speak up? Because of fear. Here is my story of words and fear. I am a poet. And as a poet, I share my poems. One day, I got a chance to perform on of my poem in front of over a hundred people — non-Muslim people — at a graduation. A friend referred me, and I said 'Ok fine, I’ll do it', with the intention of doing something for the current issue: Palestine. Once I registered to perform… I felt worried. Now I don’t have a problem speaking in front of people about political people, but I also did not want to anger them and be thrown off stage. So, I thought. What could I do to get my views across, without being blunt about Palestine? I thought, let’s just say a poem about, I don’t know, knowledge. Or refugees. Or even graduation hats. I talked to my mom about it and we disagreed about what to do. I wanted to get MY opinions across, but she wanted to tech me the wisdom of choosing  the right words to say at the right time and at the right place. We disagreed about it and talked back and forth until I felt drained. Two days until the performance, I decided. I decided to meet my mom in the middle. I would get my point across without overstepping the boundaries. And so I decided to do a poem on Humanity. I was scared. I was worried. But I wrote that poem, tweaked it, sprinkled some glitter on it….And I did it. I performed that poem. It really resonated with people. A number of them came up to me to recognize that I did something that aligns with my beliefs, What about you? I know we’ve all been in a situation like this, whether it be a dispute about whether Trump or Biden was better, or a time when you were asked to say your opinion of hijab on or off in front of…not so good friends. But why are we scared? Why are we scared to say what we see? Say what we see. Try it. Maybe you will be thrown off stage or out of the building. Maybe you will be looked at differently once you say you are pro-hijab or pro-Omar Suleiman. But at least you got your words across. Say what we see. And maybe you will be congratulated and asked questions about why you did it. And maybe people will love you. And maybe you will change the world with your words. Say what we see. (Thank you to Mr. Tayyab Younes, my public speaking teacher, for helping me and others better share their words. Jazakumullahu Khairan)