This language is not for children
This language is not for children.
It will roll off your tongue if you don’t hold it tight.
It will break your teeth
and turn your whisper into a hiss.
It will knock against your skull as you sleep.
This language will jump like a wild horse.
It is easy to fall and lose your words.
Once free, who knows where those words can go.
They will sink into the ground like droplets and come back howling with the wind.
They will dance at the back of your throat and gush from your lips
and spill your innermost thoughts
for everyone to see.
GloPoWriMo Day 23 - a poem based on sound
I tried to capture the sounds of my mother tongue (Serbian) and was directly inspired by the poetry of Vasko Popa, especially this one here (read by the poet himself). You can read the poem and its several translations here.
I love this . . . it makes me wonder about writing a response from the perspective of someone learning the language and how it feels and tastes . . .
ReplyDeleteYes, I think it would be a fun prompt to listen to the sound of a language we don't understand and then write a poem.
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