Two Languages Become One
(Europe summer 97)
mh   2 – 10/98


ROLLING
countryside
IN THE TRAIN
lying gently in the plains
FROM ITALY TO FRANCE WITH TWO OLD
stereotypical 
ITALIAN WOMEN
of europe
WE COMMUNICATED
only
WITH HAND SIGNALS AND SMILES
now i realize how those two old ladies took me under their wings while
WHILE I SAT WITH THEM AT TRAIN CHANGES
i helped them waddle up stairs
ONE POINTED AT MY SHIRT AND PRONOUNCED IT
my inexperience
“DU-KAY”     “NO,” I SAID, 
is 
“DUKE”   WE WERE LAUGHABLE
laughable
THE NEXT COMPARTMENT WAS
a group of
AMERICAN GIRLS
girls visible through a glass door
MY TWO ITALIAN MOTHERS NUDGED ME FORWARD BUT
but i was shy and afraid:  what if they didn’t speak my language?
I REFUSED, THE DONNAS SHRUGGED AT WASTED YOUTH.
i refused, the donnas shrugged at wasted youth.