The Star Spanglish Banner By Angelica Maria Aguilera Poem by Scott Sims

Oh say can you see
Miguel wants to learn the star-spangled banner'
Miguel was the last fourth grader to
Migrate into my English as a second language course,
And is the first to raise his hand for every question.
But Miguel views letters in a different way than most
Because there are many words in Spanish
That do not exist in English.

And the rocket's red glare
We watched our home
Bursting in air
He learns how to pack them in a suitcase and forget
Because many phrases translate backwards
When crossing over from Spanish to English.
Throughout the whole song, he tends to say things
In the wrong order so when I asked him to sing
The second verse it sounds like


Gave proof throughtthe night
That the flag was still theirs
They say music is deeply intertwined
With how we remember.
Miguel Hears his mother's accent being mocked
And learns the words shame.
Hears his mother's weeping
And learns the word sacrifice.
What does the word America mean?
What does the word dream mean?
I say two words with the same meaning are
What we call synonyms.
You could say America is a dream,
Something we all feel silly for believing in.

‘''And for whom does that
Star-spangled banner yet wave
He says teach me how to say Bandera.
Teach me how to say star.
Teach me how to hide my country
Behind the consonants that
Do not get pronounced.
In my tongue we do not
Pronounce the letter H.
Home is not a sound my voice
Knows how to make.
It's strange what our memories hold on to.
It's strange what makes it over the border
From the left side of the brain
But what our minds do not let us forget
How an accent is just a mother tongue
That refuses to let her child go.

The language barrier is a 74 mile wall
Lodged in the back of Miguel's throat.
The bodies of words so easily lost in the translation.
Give Back the land and set us free
And let us make a home for the brave.