Hey! I'm looking for some nicely flowing (don't have to rhyme) poems for my debate class. The idea is to have 3+ published poems on a similar topic, and then to write about how they go together. I'm thinking about doing one on either animal abuse/euthanization, or the ways foreign families are effected by the U.S. (or something like that). It's still kinda sketchy. :-) If you know any poems along these lines, or have an ABSOLUTE FAVORITE you think would go nicely, please post em' here! This is one that I'm thinking about doing, by Pat Mora, called "Elena"-

My Spanish isn’t enough.
I remember how I’d smile
Listening to my little ones,
Understanding every word they’d say,
Their jokes, their songs, their plots.
Vamos a pedirle dulces a mama. Vamos
But that was in Mexico.
Now my children go to American high schools.
They speak English.
At night,
They sit around the kitchen table,
Laugh with one another.
I stand by the stove and feel dumb. Alone.
I bought a book to learn English.
My husband frowned, drank more beer.
My oldest said,
“Mama, he doesn’t want you to be smarter than he is.”
I’m forty,
Embarrassed at mispronouncing words,
Embarrassed at the laughter of my children,
The grocer,
The mailman.
Sometimes I take my English book
And lock myself in the bathroom,
Say the thick words softly,
For if I stop trying,
I will be deaf,
When my children need my help

Hope it helps any, and thanks in advance for all your help!
-Luna