POETRY
An Immigrant’s Lament- a poem
When I was ten years old…
When I was 10 years old, I dreamt of becoming Celine Dion one day
Until piling 0's in math slapped reality in my face
I turned a teenager and discovered Daniel Steel and Mills and Boon
Agitated hormones made me write a 200-page romance
Until a charismatic retreat brainwashed me into burning the 'lust' too soon.
At 21 my mind tried to fight my love for music, my love for a boy, and God at the same time
I had a premonition music was my way to life
A nun promised me to accept God and send me to the Vatican
There I could sing my soul out in Rome
Almost sold I was, until rationality forced me to take a ride home.
At 25 while waiting for an operatic scholarship and ordinary married life,
I had to settle for the latter hesitantly
Kids and diapers, household chores, and unsettled moves rapidly filled my days
Though positioned in the land of milk and honey
To smell the fresh flowers or thank God for the music, I failed
Every day I woke up to the sound of a crying baby, with eyes blinded to my wonderful space
At 30, I was a mother to two
It was my dream to live the life of a nomad
To sing all over the world while discovering places on pennies saved
Here we were moving 7 countries in 7 years while living a comparatively comfortable life but with a future so grave
When you are a mother, that is all you are
We endeavored to bless the children with a secure place
I am 39 today, still singing, but only for the Lord
Fighting in another beautiful land that I still cannot call my own
I am now a nurse and change adult diapers
The nights are still restless and I now wake up hearing oldies sighing in pain
But, when you are a mother, you are a mother first
I attend to my patients sincerely in turn for their blessing
For a forever home for my children
To reward hard work and taxes paid with permanent settlement
Hear Yea to this Immigrant’s lament
To bless the children with a secure place
