English (part one)
I said to my high school crush, ‘spare me the details’
But what I really meant was: ‘tell me more’
She was a damsel in distress and I was a 13-year-old Dr. Phil
Told it all to my sister and she had a laugh, said it was like
That with English, anything could go wrong…then chuckled
Then we were 15 years of age, aspiring African sages
Stopped at the clinic to get circumcised. A few weeks
Down the line, upon a check-up visit, I told the nurse at the reception
I had been castrated; my limited English had convinced me that the ‘C” word was synonymous with circumcision,
Poor Nurse almost fell off her chair with utter shock
The many things that went wrong were bearable…or not…
But English was one of them!
I had a good time in Canada
Once told the waiter to watch his bowls that he was about to knock
Off the cupboard but pronouncing bowls as in balls and he gave
Me a horrified look; I remembered, anything could go wrong,
I dismissed the episode as an encore in a different context
That would potentially invite many more
I guess I was not fazed by getting it wrong anymore to get better at it
Though it frustrated me to the very core
I am older now and wiser but realize there is yet much
English to learn, yes friend, the spectrum is vast and wide
Immeasurable if you may and many things will go wrong along the way
And others are elusive now in my recollection, a reality I’m perhaps thankful for
Oops! I meant to say elusive…English!!
When I realise that all my troubles have mostly not been
Shared through the English man learning my mother tongue,
I am inexorably forced to conclude:
This reality is some B.S!!!!
I am a simple Mosotho man who enjoys reading and listening to poetry. Sometimes I share my thoughts.