I Dream in english

In honor of #MLKDay and current events, here is "I dream in English," a poem I wrote years ago that is, sadly, even more relevant today. Let us never forget the brave men and women who fought--through words and their actions--for a better tomorrow.  As long as there are laws, words, actions and beliefs that still proclaim the superiority of one person over the other, the Dream is still not realized. We must pass the torch to the next generation because this battle is not yet won. While I hope we can dream a better tomorrow, I hope we can work towards it with great fervor and love. 

You can’t count the ways
You can’t count the ways
I  dream in English
You can’t count the days
You can’t count the days
I dream in English
You can’t count the thoughts
You can’t count the thoughts
I think in English
You can’t count the words
You can’t count the words
 I speak in English
 
I’ve learned to stifle my childish dreams
Because I’m not like you I must be better than you
I hide away all my foreignness to fit in with your images
I choke on my language and my culture
I close my eyes and lie with betrayal
 
You can’t count the words that I cannot say
And the looks that I can’t interpret
The walk I cannot get right
So I cut off my sole and watch my feet bleed
Limping along but now I’m just like you
 
I kill myself to be like you
I hurt my pride to be made anew
So don’t tell me I don’t fit in
While I’m dying within
My broken English dreams
 
​You can’t count the days
You can’t count the ways
I die in English