Leslie-Anne Stacey
When My Language is Lost
I once had a beautiful language,
a language that is rapidly fading.
It is my language, Kanien�keha.
It hurts not being able to speak
the language that I love,
the language I grew up with.
The language that is my identity,
now left a void in my soul.
Who am I without my language?
What am I without my language?
It hurts when I do not understand
what is said to me, and cannot answer
in my Native tongue.
I feel as though I am suffocating.
My throat is filled with excruciating pain,
so much that it hurts to swallow.
My eyes become red, hot and watery.
My chin sinks into my chest
I cry. My tears flow from me as
freely as my language once did.
I feel ashamed. Ashamed that I have
Let go the greatest gift from our creator.
Maintenant, je peux parler plus de Fran�ais
Que Kanien�keha. Je n�aime pas �a.
My language is the root
that connects me to Mother Earth,
and I have forgotten it.
When my language is lost, so too am I.
Leslie-Anne Stacey is a Mohawk from the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy.