COMMON TONGUE

Around the world
so many tongues
so many languages
in tribes and clans
and countries

before
we could not understand each other
although we were all the same
humankind
was not kind
we warred against each other
against foreign tongues

now we come full circle
and English has become
the universal language
spoken in accents
in pigeon
broken
but spoken
by almost everyone

it once was said
that English was the language of God

yet in our foolish way
we still speak ill of others
and still cannot understand each other

this despite our commonality
and our now common tongue.