Cover me in your soft, foreign tongue
Cover every inch of this American boy
With tales of what you have learned to be the truth
As the truth in another language
Teach me how your vowels hold themselves
Against the howling rise and fall of your meter
Allow me a chance to hear the song of your language
Free of lecture or explanation
I am at the mercy of your speech
Left, pleasantly and content
In a mysterious soundscape
I will trust that
You have no intentions of insults
That your words are flattering
Or honest
I rest, with pleasure
In the modern exotic landscape
Of your speech
I ask only that you whisper softly
Everything I need to know
But you cannot say in English
What cant you tell me in my native tongue?
What about you has to be said in words I don’t understand?
If you find that there are baggages
Secrets
Issues
My fresh and tender heart cannot bear the weight of
Do not deny me honesty
Rather
Place your gifts, wrapped
At the doorstep of my forehead
My earlobes
My Adam’s apple
My lips
And leave the unwrapping
To me
