By Emily Reid Green
On Arabic
You sharpen the vowel to shape the lens–
This is how I know for sure
your love is for me alone.
(Tongue greets soft palate.)
* * *
There’s no chicken scratch in Arabic–
The letters won’t allow it.
Instead ink dips, swirls, unfurls:
Wonder-watch words dance.
On American Sign Language
Try to take up space and use the face,
Like life, end with a question,
When the eyebrows sink lower
Tell time and answer.
On French
Mostly hidden breeds a mystery
of letters sweetly silent,
of endings up in the air:
World within a word.