Words dazzle \ Las palabras deslumbran
π vie π quibble π wimple π flibbertigibbet π lackey π aptly π trepverter π
compita… discute… griΓ±on… chismoso… lacayo… acertadamente… comentario de la escalera
(tada!)
but like us, yearn to be useful \ pero como nosotros anhelan ser ΓΊtiles
π aid π praise π lingerie π confidante π master π unseemly π herald π
ayuda… elogia… lencerΓa… confidente… maestra… indecoroso… anuncia
In the clash of my own hot air (from half a decade of institutional EspaΓ±ol study’s bellows) and the cool impartial reality of communicating with hispanohablantes born with tildes in their ears and mouths, a rainstorm swelled, then broke, to cleanse and hush me.
π Presumption and arrogance on the part of professors and pupils; standards and conventions; theory; pressure to extract from a page and regurgitate into a form, recite to instructors Mr. Walls — of German and Polish descent — and Mrs. Gumflower — spouse of a Spaniard, Scandinavian name, residing in France despite Italian citizenship — who memorized Spanish themselves. π
π Understanding and connection in the experience and practice of gently, slowly, carefully conversing with Flutilio (indigenous Central American tribe representative) who’d learned the language of his lands’ invaders and peoples’ oppressors in hopes of survival, as we explored the jungle together. π
Out of the quiet I learned that love first touched us as a species and we invented language as the necessary tool to help us handle it. Our hearts forever speak through silence in the beginning.
Fall and fall again until te callas, then choose to fall once more. Listening shall balm your scrapes.