The Argentinian

diaguitas, mapuches, tobas
quilmes in the heartland
swept aside by spanish adelantados
then came mestizos and criollos
the gauchos of the pampas
decades later, europe reduced to rubble
down came more gallegos and italians
and the jews and some nazis too
all along paraguayans, chileans and bolivians
crossed the border in pursuit of their dream
here today we're all Argentinian mix

it's 2008 and we still wonder
where our true identity lies
we're not a melting pot
perhaps a rich multicolor multitasty
tossed salad with no dressing
yet spicy, repicante

it's soccer, tango, chacarera
milongas, gatos, las tinellis
piazzola, los susanos, cumbia villera
borges, sabato, cortazar
mate, dulce de leche y empanadas
un che, y un vos keep our spanish alive
and we, english teachers, a strange breed
struggle hard to understand
and make sense of it all

(Just wanted to share a poem I wrote in today's session of Literature in ELT: Developing Intercultural Awareness and Having Fun. The assignment was to write something about the Argentinians, after reading a poem called 'The British' by Benjamin Zephaniah. As I couldn't share it there today, I thought of doing so with you. Hope you like it. We'll talk about this session after long weekend. Enjoy your break!! :)