Her name sounded like strange music to them
Like the flapping wings of a hummingbird landing on a flower
But when she said it, she tasted home
And her name rolled off her tongue like the monsoon rain of December.
They were eager to give her a regular name, stripped of deep meaning
And she took it, because this is a land of opportunity.
Her accent was too thick for them
They couldn’t see that this accent made her lips feel like dancing butterflies
Fluttering and dipping in a cadence she was familiar with.
They were eager to put her in front of a class
Making her feel like her accent was a speech impediment; an obstacle
So she worked to lessen the foreign waves her tongue made
And she was fine with it, because this is a land of opportunity.
That beautiful African kink on her head was unprofessional to them
But those thick roots reminded her of the sugar cane growing back home, sweet and strong.
They were eager to tell her straight hair would look much better
So she chemically relaxed the Nigeria out of every curl
And she didn’t mind that because this is a land of opportunity.
Assimilation to the new land was no problem for her
She had always wondered as a little girl what it would be like
To stand on streets of gold and breathe in America’s freedom
To forget her tragedies, embracing this red, white, and blue sanctuary…
It had so much potential to do a lot for her
So she was willing to sacrifice her clear picture of home;
Put it beneath the grass of this new place so she could at least be aware of it, but not too close to it.
She grew to like her new home
And they continued to wash out so much of her culture
Like it was some kind of disability
So she couldn’t pass that on
And the Nigerian woman decided not to teach her children her language…
Besides. This was a land of opportunity.
She wanted her children to grab every bit of it
Not knowing that her children wanted to embrace her home land with open arms.
I wish I could taste Nigeria, let it tiptoe like ballerina feet out of my lips
Wish culture could be cherished everywhere
In the land that gave my mother all the opportunities
Excluding the opportunity to wear her culture like a jeweled crown.
Isioma West 