Adrineh: You and I

you who held me
for 14 months
but came and left
across borders
of many kinds

you who i drove away
war is peace they say
but the monotony of our days
was too much
for me to bear

you across the ocean
give your love to a black cat
and i to a beige poodle
we didn’t realize
the telephone was broken

for you home is here
you say
but for me it is where i am
and sometimes
that was with you

you sound different now
but maybe you always did
and it is in fact i
who am listening
with different ears

i feel you in my bed sometimes
and the scent of you lingers on
but being multilingual
doesn’t mean we speak
a common language

you without a home
often tired and hungry
i am well-rested and well-fed
and regretful of all
that i didn’t say
(and all that i did)

you raised in the lowlands
learned to ride a bike
before you could walk
now back again attempting
to unlearn racist idealogy

i raised in a cold climate
learning more than one history
raised to be proud of my isolation
teaching others
how to say my name

you & i tried
to overcome boundaries
others set upon us
to love on the margins
to dare to speak
as lovers, as allies,
as traitors to war

but to fuse
the reality
with the dream
is what’s best
now i think

Used here by kind permission.