Daniel, My Son Poem by Nancy Vorkink

For the first time
I sense anxiety for you and
Your family, even though
You are under UNHCR protective
Status, there are new
Elections in new homeland
And the outcome could affect
You and your family.

The main issue between the runoff
Candidates is education.
Education is something
Americans take for granted.
In Africa, it is a calling card,
A sign of a marked man or woman,
Someone who knows more,
Or thought so. Superior.
King George, raised in slums
Still uneducated but in the soccer
Game, claims he is clean of
Dirty politics VS.
Iron Lady who could be the first
African woman president,
What a claim for Liberia,
Home of US freed slaves.
Ah, that’s the rub—she has
High education from Harvard,
World Bank credits, yet is not
A woman of the people.
What to do, my friend?
I worry like a mother.

I helped educate you
In Economics, as the Iron Lady,
Yet is this a stigma
In the playing field of soccer?

I worry, my son, I worry.