My dad doesn’t speak French
By Hyppolite Pierre
He is my son,
He is in school,
They teach him all in French,
Play with him
In French,
Sing,
Dance,
Joke with him
In French
Me?
I speak with him,
In English,
Or Haitian,
Or better sometimes,
In Haitian,
Or English
It makes no sense to him
How can you help me daddy,
With my studying
And writing
But you don’t speak French?
“Well that’s life,”
I tell him
One day you’ll understand
Maybe you’ll be like me
If you hate oppression,
If you love everyone
You’ll know why,
You’ll see why
You’ll still speak French,
But you’ll know why,
You’ll see why
Perhaps then, you’ll look at me
After a trip to Haiti,
My land,
Your land,
Our land,
And you’ll say,
“Daddy, you are right”
