To Mom And Dad Poem by Yehualashet Teshome

You live with me
Deeply engraved in my memories
My mom and dad
You are the source of power I tap into
When my energy is down
When I have the blues
You dreamt my life
Made me who I am
Wished me the best
You told me to become who you were not
Educated and prosperous
Happy and successful
In life
Taught me
The importance of freedom
Above everything
You said
"son, a slave with a mindset of a master
Is a master
A beggar is a king when he becomes one"
You kept my country, Ethiopia
Free of the vultures, colonialists
Chose death to slavery
Liberty to servility
I owe you my freedom
I owe you my life, everything
Mom and dad