Poem ~ Inmigración

tu acento
tan puro y dulce
is cemented to your cells
on your tongue
as you land on this foreign english territory

tu dejo
tu entonación
turns into water droplets
dripping from your tongue
injuring your language
as the clock ticks every year

tu tono
barí­tono y neutral
sings a different chorus to
your loved ones
a chorus unknown to them

tu lenguaje
mixto y variado
curves and sculpts your
new tongue
rearranging its shape
as you cross borders 
from here to your
tierra hispana

m. raquel medina

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The bilingual or multilingual tongue is a complex one. The tongue mixes and separates each sound from the different voices you have in your mind. It’s not possible to be perfectly bilingual we all speak a mix of two or more languages – as much as we want to separate them and be an expert in each. Accents are beautiful and they should be celebrated when they touch the soul of the other languages in your life.

Photo by Metin Ozer on Unsplash