My tongue is divided into two
By Quique Avilés
My tongue is divided into two
by virtue, coincidence or heaven
words jumping out of my mouth
stepping on each other
enjoying being a voice for the message
expecting conclusions
My tongue is divided into two
into heavy accent bits of confusion
into miracles and accidents
saying things that hurt the heart
drowning in a language that lives, jumps, translates
My tongue is divided by nature
by our crazy desire to triumph and conquer
This tongue is cut up into equal pieces
one wants to curse and sing out loud
the other one simply wants to ask for water
My tongue is divided into two
one side likes to party
the other one takes refuge in praying
tongue
english of the funny sounds
tongue
funny sounds in english
tongue
sounds funny in english
tongue
in funny english sounds
My tongue sometimes acts like two
and it goes crazy
not knowing which side should be speaking
which side translating
My tongue is divided into two
a border patrol runs through the middle
frisking words
asking for proper identification
checking for pronunciation
My tongue is divided into two
My tongue is divided into two
I like my tongue
it says what feels right
I like my tongue
it says what feels right
Copyright Credit: Quique Avilés, “My tongue is divided into two” from The Immigrant Museum. Copyright © 2004 by Quique Avilés. Reprinted by permission of Raices de Papel.
Source: The Immigrant Museum (Rain Coast Books, 2004)