We,
too, made America
Aimee
Suzara
After Langston Hughes’ “I,
too, sing America”
We are the little brown
brothers
and the mail-order brides.
I’ve been told we make good
wives.
When company comes, someone
always
tries to guess where we’re
from.
But we chuckle, with a
sparkle in our eyes.
We crossed the sea
and danced with time.
Tomorrow,
we’ll be at the party
when company comes.
Nobody will dare ask which
place we clean, which garment
we sew,
which man we married, as if
they know.
We’ll ask the host,
please bring me a drink.
Besides,
they’ll see how tall we
stand.
We may be small,
but we stand grand.
We sowed the seeds and soil
we tilled.
Tended your wounds and paid
the bill.
Gave you our ports and
cleaned up after.
Dusted our hands with song
and laughter.
Jumped in the pot and turned
it over.
We, too, made America.
Aimee
Suzara completed
her M.FA. at Mills College in 2005 and has been sharing poetic and
multidisciplinary work since 1999. Her play, Pagbabalik (Return) in
2007 was
selected for several festivals and granted the Zellerbach Community
Arts Fund
in 2006-7. Her poetry collection, the space between. was published by
Finishing Line Press (2008) and her writing appears in several journals
and anthologies,
including Check the Rhyme, An Anthology
of Female Poets and Emcees (Lit Noire Press), 580 Split
(forthcoming issue) and Walang Hiya/No Shame
(forthcoming anthology). Currently, she is
collaborating on text-dance works with two companies: Amara
Tabor-Smith’s Deep
Waters Dance Theater for “Our Daily Bread”; and choreographer Frances
Sedayao,
Aimee Espiritu and Michael Torres for “A History of the Body,” to be
hosted by
the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. A
passionate
advocate for arts and literacy, she teaches English at community
colleges and
leads workshops on poetry and performance.
www.aimeesuzara.net.