my old friend e.e.

since feeling is first

e.e. cummings

since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;

wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world

my blood approves,
and kisses are a far better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry
--the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says

we are for eachother: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life's not a paragraph
And death i think is no parenthesis
 

[e.e. surprised me on the page tonight

haven't seen him since Brazzaville

perhaps a reminder

the best gesture of my brain

is to forget good grammar and

proper punctuation

from time to time]

Xela Notes - Class Day Uno

I DO NOT HAVE A SPELL CHECK IN XELA!

Eating three meals each day with the same people produces heightened levels of intimacy and deeper levels of togetherness that many Americans miss in their rush-rush, no time for a sit-down lunch and dinner lifestyle. In Xela, I see my host family at breakfast, lunch and dinner. I watch each member of the family eat his or her black beans, plantanos fritos y drink jugo de frutas. We do this together with compañerismo, a bilingual table sharing our stories of the day. Sylvia, who works with pre-kindergarten kids, tells the story of a 3 year-old girl who slumps in her arms and says she is too tired to work. I tell, or should I say try to tell, Particia, Sylvia and Miguel about mi maestra. Ella es simpatico y su pelo es castaño claro. With my first 5-hour Spanish class packed into my brain, I am eager to practice and start work again at the I.C.A. Spanish School tomorrow.