If English is to rule the world,
it must learn to speak French.
The language of diplomacy:
the natural language of love.

If English is to rule the world,
it must learn to speak German.
The language of philosophy:
the complex depths of the mind.

If English is to rule the world,
it must learn to speak Swahili.
The language of the veldt:
the plain where the human soul was born.

If English is to rule the world,
it must learn to speak Spanish.
And speak of the heat and the sun
that beat down on so many.

If English is to rule the world,
it must learn to speak Urdu.
That subtle tongue of the mother
of both poverty and prayer.

If I have forgotten the name of your voice, do not fret,
it only means I do not know enough about it.

If English is to rule the world,
it must learn to speak to us all.
This is its strangest strength:
that we are all free to invent within it.

If English is to walk the earth as master,
it must serve to speak our hearts, as well.

If English is to spread into every crevice,
it must also know when to remain silent.

1/19/03 - 3 AM