If the Mango Tree Could Speak - A Poem

If the Mango Tree Could Speak:

Many of you have asked for a copy of this poem that I often read when I speak in public. I thought it would be appropriate to share it as a blog entry in the context of two conversations I've had under a mango tree here in the Congo.

(a collaborative poem by The Owl and the Panther – a support group in Tucson, AZ for teenagers and young adults whose families were forced to flee violence and come to the U.S. when they were children.)

If the mango tree could speak, it would be honest.
It would tell us how it feels inside.
It would touch our hearts and we would know what is good and bad.
It would talk about my people and say how they live.
It would talk about my broken heart of memories, my broken heart of my past, my broken heart hearing people cry for their relatives.
If the mango tree could speak it would weep with the fear of thousands of years.
It would cry for all the suffering of the people.
It would say what happened a long time ago.
It would speak about what has been lost.
It would teach numbers by counting how many people it has seen killed.
It would tell how the people are suffering.
It would say that the children are strong.
If the mango tree could speak, it would be a storyteller,
It would be shy.
It would know great and sad stories.
If the mango tree could speak it would say that the people are beautiful and that they have love to give.
It would say "help the poor people."
It would sing
"Hope lives on, Peace can come wave it's banner in my leaves."
If the mango tree could speak, it would say "Do not cut me, please."
It would say, "I love you."
The mango tree would tell the truth.
(by: marge, marianna, amy, juana, mayra, walter, winston, george, cinthya, moslin, sandy, vicky, jennifer, alfonso, rina, edna, thelma)