O u r   L a n g u a g e

I need to hear my language
In every mouth, turn on the
Radio and hear that old, sweet
Music. Homesickness eats like
A virus and overcomes me
Sometimes. Each day I hear
Your language lilting, breathe
It, absorb it through my
Very skin, wake up and go to
Sleep with it on my lips.
I even dream in Dutch.
Welterrusten, slaap lekker
And then the dreams come.
They are always green. The rain
That falls is Irish rain and I am
Home by your side once more.

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First appeared in The Surface, Language Issue, February 2003