Language Lessons

at first you don't notice the barriers to the language

the spikey little fences painted rose and green appear

cheerful from the distance and at the speed you are traveling

it feels like a holiday on the rickety train

as the expression goes, (fresh butter and rolls?)

better wouldn't melt in their mouths

the little houses are so cunning, just your size

and the marigolds made to order

you're just happy there are words at all

you're so sure of a welcome into fairy land

well, come in, just over the border.

lesson one, you stranger in a stranger land:

no one looks at the sky the way you do

try to explain the blue the way you feel it to be

that hue half blended with pearl and mystery

in a clear voice with no clouds

you'll see what is meant

by books that are lent not given

by the heart when it is riven.

you still won't notice the artful smiles

that shred your soul after all those miles

those late nights up studying. under a copper moon;

after so much earnestness...

though you're greeted with boxed candy and orange lilies

great bowls of tea with inordinate sugar

something is amiss; you feel it like this:

excusing yourself from the hostess and host

despite the folkloric shawl you're wrapped in;

turning all the meanings inside out

only to find the same insults after all.

mary angela douglas 28 january 2022

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