by Kana Ashida

Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb.

Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow.

Yellow skin, dark brown eyes, black eyelashes and eyebrows, long black hair, speaks Japanese--I am not American. I am away from home. Everybody sings children songs. "I know that song! I used to sing that song when I was little!" "That song reminds me of childhood," people say. Then, everybody starts to sing it, like they were four again. But me, I just stand there looking around at the "four-year-old big children." I move my lips a little and pretend that I am singing the same song. And after, I realize my hands are sweating. I feel bad. I feel like a baby. I feel invisible. A big baby. Don’t know how to speak. Don’t understand what people are saying. I am a baby who is learning to speak English.

Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb.

Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow.