Stephanie Poetri

Mother Tongue (with Dorothy Chan)

by Stephanie Poetri

3 Views Feb 20, 2026

Lyrics

It's my mother's language
It's my mother tongue
I don't speak it perfect
And that makes me dumb

First to lose the accent
Last to get the joke
What's the word for having nowhere to go

And it's always in the back of my mind
Or on the tip of my tongue

Ooh
If it's hard to read
It's just poetry
Ooh
That's just how I speak
Ini puisiku
Dari dulu
Aku tahu
That I sound nothing, nothing like you
Ooh
So they laugh at me
At my poetry

It's my fathers' lessons

From his fathers hurt
Try to disagree but I can't find the words
It's pain that's in the silence
The tears that speak for me
What's the word for all that's lost in between

And it's always in the back of my mind
Or on the tip of my tongue
Swear that I was fluent when I was young
Now I can't even write you a song

Ooh
If it's hard to read
It's just poetry
Ooh
That's just how I speak
Ini puisiku
Dari dulu
Aku tahu
That I sound nothing, nothing like you
Ooh
So they laugh at me
At my poetry

It's just poetry
It's just poetry

It's just poetry