Mwen menm ayisyen

From a little island named Hispanola

Next to el republica domincana

Where we eat sweet plantains and sip kremas

Like the elderly drink coquitos in puerto rico

And devour pork shoulder, griot, pernil

Alongside pattee haitian, jamaican patties and empanadas

From the caribbean beats of kompa, reggae and reggaeton

Booty bouncing, hip swaying tunes of love on a dance floor

self created in the comfort of our people

Soy cubano

My sister is puerto rican

My brother white, from america

We share some of the same blood

And we acknowledge that deep rooted in our DNA

We are as distinct as we are similar

And I will happily and proudly say the same of my friend from Senegal

Whose ancestors shared the same struggle of my mine and those of the people

Of Ghana, Nigeria, Libya

Of India, China, and Indonesia

Practically making us cousins

Just branches of the same tree,

long extended family

I know a girl from Nigeria

She wears her soul in ankara( type of fabric)

Which cries in Yoruba (yo-ru-ba)

aye (ah-yeh) ati (and)Ife (love ee-feh)

Live and love

aye (ah-yeh) ati (and)Ife (love ee-feh)

To the beat of Shoki (music) played on her talking drum

Don’t you love the tastefulness of her dialect’s tongue

The trill of her people’s tambourines

The votive of her people’s voices

The smorzando of her people’s song,

that though on beat fades away, becomes strong in her culture

She shares the same elegance and poise

Of the quiet chinese girl whose smile shines like the peeking sun in a solar eclipse

And whose soft soprano leaves the listener in an ellipse

Of mystery and desire of more, simply transfixed  

But you’d be miffed if I said this is the same as the Ghanaian

Who dances to similar tunes of azonto in her ntoma

Who combines similar ingredients to make her rice

Who just like any black goddess is combined with the melanin of nature’s night

And the satisfying scents of mother’s spice

Look at her dance

Hear her sing

watch them all tell their story

Of trials and tribulations

Hear the sincerity of their sacrifices

Bagpipes blow the same sad slow notes

Step dance drumming the dreams of so many

The fight

The battle

Aspettare! (Wait)

Do you see the white of the flags approaching

Symbolizing the peace and understanding we’re supposed to share?

Do you feel the green of the grass beneath us

Of lands similar from the air

Do you feel the red of rushing rivers

Of the pain that we all bear

Je suis francais

And my tongue preaches love

For one

Love for all

For  the grandest revolution was birthed in my home

Equality

and  consciously acknowledging difference

But choosing to accept it for what it is

Affection

And protection

Of one another

Because

Our earth is one world

And our people one heart

Just branches of the same tree

Long extended family