If You've Lived Where I Have Lived (by Kanako)
 
If you've lived where I have lived,
you'd see what I have seen,
the waving lanky palm trees,
the wide brown Saramaca River.
 
If you've lived where I have lived,
you'd taste what I have tasted,
the sweet squishy papayas,
other tropical flavors dancing in your mouth.
 
If you've lived where I have lived,
you'd smell what I have smelled,
the smell of Fernandes bread soaring like a bird,
the smell of people cooking different dishes.
 
If you've lived where I have lived,
you'd hear what I have heard,
the mighty choir of toads in the rain,
the waterfalls racing between the rocks.
 
If you've lived where I have lived,
you'd see the beauty of it.
You'd see why I love it-
Suriname, my home.
 
Kanako is an 8th grade student at the American Cooperative School (as of the 2001-2002 school year)