Language Barrier Poem by Theresa Ann Moore

Feeling estranged from my cultural identity
Born as an American…starting a new trend
My parents spoke Hungarian occasionally...
When they did not want me to comprehend

My mother tried to teach me words of tradition
Shaking my head negatively... I said, 'nem, '
When starting school…English was spoken
The only language to be learned… I thought then

As I grew older I was left out of conversations
between my parents and my uncles and aunts
Wishing that I knew how to speak and understand...
On the soil which I stand; I am a deaf/mute transplant

9/16/2010