Language

Illustration by Carina Rampelt

In learning French I have observed
the wisdom in never assuming that another person does not speak a language

I have often experienced the surprise and awe
of stumbling upon another fluent person

and coming to the understanding that such people are all around me

Similarly, now that I have learned the language of depression,
my diction of drugs and attempts,

Seasons and silence, I experience again
my naivety when, talking to another person,

I hear their response in my mother tongue