Beyond Language

my mother once told me

when i speak chinese

you can’t understand me

when you speak english

i can’t understand you

and it struck my heart into two

how did i not see

this ever-growing chasm the

fundamentals of language

ripping and clawing,

slashing, tearing, burning

my tongue rolls in my mouth

pebbles clashing in a cavernous rock tumbler

trying to make each other

smooth, fluent

but i can’t spin it fast enough

the rocks can’t smooth each other out and

language has failed me

what else can i do

what tender touch, what loving words

can i utter to fashion my own bridge

if two architects design different plans

how can i tell my mother that i

love her

without having to speak the words

i build a different bridge

i abandon words, fluency

there is more to life than what we say

instead we make every plank of the bridge a different form of

love

maybe today it’s a kind smile

tomorrow it’ll be a bowl of fruit silently delivered