dialects         accents
   enunciation

                                  vocal inflections
we speak
     one language or another

       our mother tongue
                                                   among others

we understand
                         what we can
        we listen               we read
meaning into messages

         communication
         takes effort                 how can I explain?

     we criticize another human’s
                            broken english
not considering the words
     are foreign                and she or he
                          or they
     speak another language

naturally

                       where I speak only one language
             I cannot fully understand
   any of the others

                         they are foreign

                                                                 to me

© 2022 j.g. lewis