Poetry /
Poetry on Parents and Immigration [4]
Hey EF, I just found this poem lying around (I wrote this about five years ago...!); I reread it and changed some words but I *think* at the time, I was trying to convey my disappointment with my father and at the same time my forgiveness as well as our family coming to United States! It rhymes, which obviously shows your taste in language changes over the years...
Enjoy and critique.
It Was Then That I Learned to Walk
It was then that I learned to walk
with the help of my mother's hand
Without the knowledge to talk,
no gratitude--just screams at the hard sand
And then I learned hatred
And then I learned pain
And then, I learned grief
I grew old, too, into a bitter thorn
and cried whether I had asked to be born
She flew hard and high,
knowing her child's urgent needs
and that the dark evening was nigh.
Then, age took her with her attempted deeds,
but her child flew away into the night,
out of her nest, out of her reach, out of her sight.
And I learned to live
And I learned to believe
And, I learned to trust
One night, the child flew back--forlorn
to the sad bird, to the nest
And found his home a-torn
Then, to the beast he cried--
Have you changed, have you even tried?
And then, I learned to forgive
to forgive and to forgive
To his surprise, the beast cried--misunderstood
and when the tears finally dried, it stood,
shedding its hide; inside, the hidden sacrifices--withered rose
Then, the child sang the melody of grief and years of sorrows
It was then, that I learned about life.
It was quite recent that I learned to walk
with the help of my mother's hand.
Without the knowledge to talk,
The quiet bird let her child sing for her in this foreign land.
