Tuesday, November 17, 2009

My Foreign Tongue

They call my spoken words "slang"
I aspirate my 'ts' and stretch my 'es';
I sound the schwa and speak with a 'twang,
I chatter like a bird in my foreign tongue.


I tell the world of my stories of old,
My pains, my ills, my grief untold;
They heard of me like bells that rang,
Through my glib foreign tongue.


I break the news, I squeal the truth,
I echo the cry for justice so long;
I whisper my love, I shout my demand,
I claim the rights,to my people belong.


I air my gripes, I plead for peace,
I speak my mind, my pleasures I release;
Ideas unheard, I express with grace,
In my foreign tongue, I speak with ease.


I talk to the breeze,
Far across and over the seas;
I lull the song my folks have sung,
In my borrowed foreign tongue.


The door before me,
My folks close with a bang;
They call me fool, my past I flung,
Because I speak in a foreign tongue.


But if I speak not in my foreign tongue,
The lyre of my people shall never be strummed,
My life's sweet symphony shall remain unsung,
For in my native tongue, the world is dumb.


May the anitos of my forefathers forgive me,
I use my foreign tongue not because of loyalty;
I did because I must, out of necessity,
Or else my voice shall be doomed to obscurity.





by: Maria Luisa Tejero Torrento

No comments:

Post a Comment

Powered By Blogger