You Lucky Girl,

don’t worry; don’t be so offended,
don’t take it all so personally.

You’re only misguided. If you don’t take it
all so personally, you’ll probably be the next
flavor of the month. So would you come

out and give the keynote at our next
ethnic heritage program? Your language
is so lush and lovely though I confess

I don’t always understand what you’re
trying to say. Don’t take offense, I mean it
only in the best way. And I know, it must be

because English isn’t your first language,
isn’t it? Why don’t you ever write in your
own language? It just sounds so beautiful.

I hear all kinds of sounds: lost rivers,
orphaned birds, the gentle bump of coconuts
landing on the sand. And your people! So

very industrious, always working hard,
so unassuming; always, always smiling, never
out of place. Does your name mean anything?

How do you spell that? Why do you insist
on carrying that sense of burden all the time?
Life, you know, doesn’t have to be so hard.

 

In response to They Pretend to be Us While Pretending We Don't Exist.

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