The life I though I knew
In the midst of a sunny afternoon
Playing with dolls, and my favorite cousin
Windows of a pink room wide open
Acting out a life I thought I knew.
All of the sudden we hear
What appears to be the locks we could never reach
Twisting around, in the living room.
Mom walks in my pink room, by her side a tall man
She says "Honey, put away your dolls;
I'd like you to meet Dan".
Why is mom speaking English?
Where did she find this guy?
Is she going crazy? It has only been four years!
And why is he so white?
As soon as lunch starts, I realize
He doesn't know a word of Portuguese
That's why he is so shy
Two years go by
We have been to his house
Disney was fun, but in Texas I thrive
I meet all of his neighbors
We have lots of fun
But on that last night, I do nothing but cry
Mom said we were leaving Brazil
and all of my friends
My dad included
All because of that man
My dad denies it all
My mom yells
They don't agree on anything
They're better away from each other, after all
I cry every night, knowing the day is closer to come
The day my life changes
And I call myself American
A month later, I'm back at his house
He played games with me
We watched movies in the basement
We cooked American meals
We named birds
We hugged mom
I was happy
No more worrying about eating the last meal
Because now we had enough;
For the whole week
I learned to speak English
I learned how to take care of myself
I learned a lot about other people
I learned what I didn't know existed
Ah, what if I acted out my new life again, in that pink room?
My cousin would've called me crazy;
We would have laughed
Things like that
They never happen here