Last Night

Last night, in my slumber, I had a dream It was an American one, one of exceptional encouragement And oh the intricacy of this grand scheme So grand, the world knew it was nowhere near forspent I glanced at my burgundy shoes, securing the eight hundred dollars in my pocket And seized the evidence of my existence, the two modest suitcases I held in my hands The command of opportunity would infuse itself into my handsome faux gold locket And due to my insistence I carried a Nigerian passport, my doorway to foreign lands My name was Nwokoye Onyiorah - I was my father In 1959, I treaded off the plane that soared from Puerto Rico to New York To the borough of the Bronx more precisely, where I bought my first pair of snow boots A nineteen year old seamstress, I knew for my future in this city I must work And for forty years, my sewing machine and I crafter elegant men’s suits My name was Leticia Tapia – I was my grandmother I stitched the robust materials of math and science that fashioned the subject of physics But I felt that this plain garment needed more design; perhaps a large print of E = mc2 And when World War II was triggered by Germany's disintegrating economics The magnificent land of the United States would tell you how well I faired I was a pioneer, and my name was Albert Einstein I can justly utter that science enabled me to craft my own image in the book of history After the trolley accident that left me broken I had only the strength to lift a paintbrush So I painted what I knew best: myself, on the U.S.-Mexican border as a sign of victory Triumph over my woe and the stubbornness of the artist in me I could never crush I was an artist, and my name was Frida Kahlo Art presents itself in numerous forms and I painted an image using my voice and music I sprinkled a little azúcar here and some sugar there as salsa spread across the west And when Cuba fell into a new regime, New Jersey had yet to leave me nostalgic It was a place I could express my sentiment without the fear of being suppressed I was a performer, and my name was Celia Cruz The microphone was born of a creation of the late 1800’s, a device called the telephone With the dynamic acoustics of sound and the ever-changing substance of technology I hurriedly patented my invention in the U.S. rather than Scotland, a race I couldn’t postpone And it led to the enrichment and the social connection of individual psychology I was an innovator, and my name was Alexander Graham Bell Still, other forms of communication did not seize to exist, so I decided to compose a book About my experience as a Romanian Jew during the abysmal times of the Holocaust And how night would surround our camps in the glacial winter and how hard I shook Now able to give speeches in the States about my journey and all that I had lost I was a political activist, and my name was Elie Wiesel The 1700’s were indeed a time for the most profound and the most persuasive speeches The Declaration of Independence was underway and soon after that, the Constitution And though many had doubts about the separation from Britain and the level America reaches I had faith that my country would prosper and subsist through the American Revolution I was a Founding Father, and my name was Benjamin Franklin But then reality began to sink in soon before I awoke from my dream I noticed I had accomplished a great deal when I was another person Yet none of them were truly my own I must deem So last night I vowed to leave my own legacy by my own exertion My name is Fortune Onyiorah, and I am me