Note: Behold the Dreamers, by Impolo Mbue, is a fantastic novel. It tells the tale of a family of Cameroon immigrants desperate to stay in the USA. Here I offer a review of the book, as poetry.
BEHOLD
We are the dreamers
We are all the dreamers
We are all the women
the men the children
all of whom are dying to dream
BIG
all of whom are yearning to live
in freedom and
dignity.
No matter our races
Our sexes
colors and
faces
We are all the dreamers
BEHOLD US!
Let us who share the USA
have OUR way
AS IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN!
See the STATUE IN THE HARBOR
THE LADY IN A SHADE OF GREEN
HOLDING FORTH THE LIGHT
My grandparents 100 years ago
came through that Harbor
that Ellis Isle
To make a new life for
MY GRANDFATHER
Claude Rotondo,
was 16 years old when he came
to America
He never returned to ITALIA
He never saw his mother
again in that tiny
town of Costello in a region called Aquila
If my family came,
why not allow all those others —
millions of families
who beg plead
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
LET US IN!
LET US STAY!
ALL THEY ARE ASKING FOR
these immigrants
is a way forward
a ray
a path
a carnival of hope
What happened to our melting pot? WHO THE FUCK ARE WE IF WE AREN'T WELCOMING THE NEWEST WAVE OF LIFE SEEKERS!
Why have we got a racist misogynist xenophobic homophobic jackass
(a snake of a con man) in the white house
Why would we let his despicable behavior rob us of
our SHARED DREAMS?
******
Give us the immigrants the room
The food
(COCKROACHES?????)
The school
NENI: "I WANT TO BE A PHARMACIST!"
The job
JENDE CARRIED A BRIEFCASE AS HE DROVE CLARK EDWARDS around NYC
16 HOURS A DAY
HE DROVE HIM TO VISIT HIS HOOKERS ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK!
PLEASE
Take
a
Look
at
This
Magnificent
Book
READ IT READ IT READ IT YOU NEED TO READ IT
And see feel
what it has done
what it can do
To you
Me
AND EVERYBODY who reads it
******
OH GOD, CINDY TOO WAS A DREAMER!!!
DESPERATELY SHE WANTED SHE SO DESPERATELY CRAVED THE LOVE SHE DID NOT HAVE
HER MOUTH CRUSTED WITH BLOOD AND SPITTLE SHE WAS A DESPERATE FOR THE LOVE OF
NONE
MOTHER SONS HUSBANDS FATHERS -- ANYONE?
YES, she TOO WAS a dreamer --
and how many of those millions of Americans who are today
OPIOID ADDICTS
lack what we all need so desperately:
A DREAM!!!!
A JOB!!!!
HOPE!!!!!
CINDY taught people how to eat well to live better
Consider Vince, the sweet boy a lot like my son, finding his way his joy
His TRUTH HIS DREAM in India
HE SPOKE WORDS AND WORLDS ABOUT HIS BELOVED
MOTHER
*******
12:54 A.M
from somewhere comes the memory the momery
of such intense nausea I had for
NENI ACTUALLY HAD A PREGNANCY THAT WAS
SO MUCH WORSE THAN MINE
Just one of the things I adore about this book is that it speaks
VOLUMES
In loud volumes
About WOMEN’S LOVES LIVES AND DREAMS
Separate from men!!!!!!
Jende for chrissake get a life
Going home to Cameroon is the stupidest idea
Well so I get it, he’s exhausted
BUT WHY DOESN’T HE LET NENI GO BACK TO WORK?
Why didn’t he choose to let the family use the cash
FOR CHRISSAKE NENI GOT THE MONEY ITS HER MONEY
THE ONLY THING I ABSOLUTELY HATE ABOUT THE BOOK
(JENDE ARE YOU LISTENING, NENI SIT UP AND LISTEN:)
I HATE THE ENDING, AND with my students, we will REWRITE IT
SWITCHING GEARS HERE HERE
HEAR THIS:
Do you realize that 15 Republican assholes got booted out in the Virginia elections on Tuesday?
ALL WERE REPUBLICAN WHITE MALES
And that many who replaced them were
WOMEN!!!!!!! YAHOOOOOOO!!!!!
Let’s hear it from the RESISTANCE!
HEAR: The “me too” campaign is
HERE
HERE
HERE
WOMEN ARE COMING OUT OF THE WOODWORK
TO SPIT OUT THEIR MISERY
SO MUCH MYSOGYNY!!!
HEAR THIS MEN, if you can't treat a women with respect
DAMN YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
(And that includes you Jende! You know very well why I write this your SOB
I thought I loved just loved your character
until page 341, virtually at the end of this fabulous book
YOU TOOK OVER YOU TOOK OVER)
You turned BRUTE BRUTE BRUTAL!!
Despite the ending,
I love this book as much as any I used in teaching at Georgetown and SUNY ALBANY for years and years!
I love it so much I am going to teach a class at the local library using just this one book
A class that will read the book and use it for all kinds of fiction and memoir writing poetry essay or whatever comes out!
Would you want to read this book
You would want to take this class?
email me at claudiajricci@gmail.com
You need to read it to decide
Whether you want to take it.
12:59 a.m.
YAWN
I am finally getting sleepy
BUT I LEAVE YOU WITH THIS INCREDIBLY HOPEFUL THOUGHT;
AFTER SEEING THE VOTERS TROMP THE TRUMPITES LAST NIGHT
I AM SINGING OUR DEMOCRACY!
BEHOLD THE DREAMERS
WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY WHERE WE CAN IF WE STAND UP AND COME
TOGETHER IN PEACE AND LOVE AND SUPPORT FOR
BROTHERS AND SISTERS
EVERYWHERE
And vote their asses out of office.
Women won across the country
And we will continue to
Win and win and win and win and win.
Dedicated to author Imbolo Mbue, who delivered to us this magnificent book!!!!!!! I think it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read and it’s her first novel. ��