I have a strong voice. It projects far since the time I was a little girl. When I was in third grade, two kids in my class were chosen to recite a poem at the school’s  general assembly. I was one of them. Cesar, the other kid, was a corpulent, 8 year old from the Atlantic coast. He spoke naturally loud, and had a big smile that made his round face look radiant when he spoke in class. I was a scrawny little girl, with bangs, who liked memorizing poems. My grandapa Adolfo had taught me a few about doves and other animals, so I was used to it. Cesar and I competed to perform in front of the school, but Cesar won. They thought my voice was too loud and would project too strongly through the microphone. On the day of the performance, Cesar came dressed up in our school uniform. He was as radiant as usual, and I was seated in the audience with the other kids in my class. When the assembly began and it was Cesar’s turn to go up on stage, the sound system broke down, and the mic didn’t work anymore. Our teacher asked Cesar politely to stay seated, and then she turned to me and said: “Martha Zoraida, you’re up. Speak as loud as you can.”

Para Julián.

Martha Ruiz Perilla has performed live on The Moth Mainstage since 2016, mesmerizing audiences from El Paso to Nashville to Sundance and beyond.