Common Tongue
Poem of finding your words in unexpected places
no one ever told me
how much the shape of our words
translates the tenderness of home.
.
my wife says to be funny
in your second language is a gift-
“just think about the tone, the timing!”
.
in this coffeeshop, the question offered up
in this land’s adopted, halting sequence
answered back in a sudden flood
of childhood’s fluency.
.
smile spreading, words flowing,
stories bubbling up and out like arriving
back from a vast distance of layered years
to find a familiar song playing on repeat
unexpected, surprising
most welcome.
.
Beautiful poem, Will.