Spoken Word by Njideka Stephanie Iroh aka NJ

Speech-less, speak less,
words spoken, my tongue shall not be broken.
Speak - less, worth-less,
My reality: faded out.
Speechless (las los), loose language, does not matter,
Speechless,
I spoke, I chose - not to.
Language-less...
because you deny me German.
An entire society has colluded,
to deny me the German language...
my words that are slimming,
People in the subway checking me out,
Language-less
Let go
Excessive
Indiscriminate
1970s: Joplin, Hendrix, Morrison say goodbye, but their music lives on
An era of good music and bicycles were given away. Guest workers.
And they should come to work,
But not to stay...
And they should learn German,
But don't stay...
Be our guest, be our guest and your service shall be put to the test.
Do not find your rest. Please, not here.
And they should come and not stay...
Hmmm... speechless,
but I let go...
in the language of those who came before me and for the generation that follows.
I speak with many voices, for all those who were not allowed to speak.
Who were only perceived as objects, or not at all.
And I will speak German as it suits ME.
I will articulate myself this way, yes, and lose some,
because it suits ME.
And I will speak Igbo and Arabic and Swahili and Amharic
And then I'll break it down into Pidgin, sometimes into Creole,
Coz I'm diggin' what I'm saying deep down in my soul,
And in 3000 African languages I break the language barrier,
And make a big career with my brothers and sisters.
Some feel uncomfortable, pull out of the affair...
I pretend to hear nothing and stare into the void.
They don't speak to me.
And I block them out.
Because it can't be... because it really can't be that it's still like this.
Speechless
Let go,
I spoke, I chose - not to.
Speach - less, speak less.
Words un-spoken. My tongue shall never be broken.

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