Lenguaje Resonante | Echoing Language

Yo hablo, yo hablo así, you hablo así, en mi corozón…

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When I began to speak, I parroted

Mariposas instead of butterflies

and they appeared to be tropical,

but I realised I was landlocked and

it was winter with dusty snowflakes

taking over from an unknown place,

but in me it was hot, patacone crumbs

clung to my salted lips and a sunspot

in a photo held me closer to her,

but language and places have changed,

days so far away from palm trees, and

Caribbean waves recede with miles

and miles of exile, my empty mouth

open and trembling a ghost of words

veiling a forgotten culture,

everywhere colours I can no longer describe.

It’s all bled together now

into a spring day— migrating

I’ve returned, listening at night,

feeling my turning tongue inside me.

I awaken that vernacular through

song and sound again and again before

I sleep, and from abroad I stitch memories

and echo words under my skin.

Slowly, misplaced phrases return

softly revealing their delicate wings.

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TAK Erzinger is an American/Swiss poet and artist with a Colombian background. Her debut chapbook entitled Found: Between the Trees was published by Grey Border Books, 2019. Erzinger’s most recent poetry collection At the Foot of the Mountain (Floricanto Press, 2021) was recently selected by Etchings Press, University of Indianapolis as the Whirling Prize winner for 2021 for best nature poetry book.

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