Smile. Gesture. Laugh.
Smile.
Gesture.
Smile.
Gesture.
Laugh.
Poor guy experiencing America for the first time.
What does he think?
They talk of drugs and tequila and sexual organs.
Mentes en cuneta. Si?
She broke a tooth on the toilet up heaving.
Another danced naked at a friend’s house.
I am disheartened expecting the cream of the crop
Here surrounded by mountains, coal, and crops.
"There’s no difference back home." I whine.
Got to be a way.
Got to be a different way.
"What is it!" I cry.
Smile.
Gesture.
Smile.
Gesture.
Laugh.
Poor guy experiencing America for the first time.
We use a diccionario, paper and electric
But the barriers remain.
I want to give him (Francisco) a positive example to take back with him.
I slept for a half-hour
After staying up till dawn
Listening to my friend,
Coming back from a high.
Confess his wrongs and guilt
To me. He says
I make him feel guilty.
We talked of our girls and ourselves
Concerning personality.
"Hush little baby," The band plays. . . .
Reminding me to hold him and her and him and
To rock them sweetly singing Your song.
Author Note: I met a foreign exchange student during a trip to southeastern kentucky. I felt sorry for him not knowing any english and also for the people he was with. (first real world use of espanol!)
About the author
I live with my wife, an artist, in Indianapolis. Besides poetry, I like to take photographs, read books, travel overseas, and listen to news/political podcasts, college lectures and classic literature. You can read about my approach to poetry on my poetics page. To stay in touch, follow me on Twitter or connect on a variety of other social networks.
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