For Claudia and Eleni--
Toledo, Ohio is nothing
more than flat. Outside
the city sat a school
for learning English.
17 and 18 year old
girls found themselves
squeezed into plastic
desks staring at chalk
boards with simple
words. English words.
The girls decided
they would be
friends, no matter
how it ended, the
friendship or the school.
The word of the day
was accomplishment,
which was hard
to pronounce or understand.
They didn't learn much
English, or much of
anything at all. But they
did learn that if you
are Greek and your friend
is Mexican and neither
of you speaks English
there's always, well
it's not much, but there's
always drawing.
Charades was never
a parlor game in
a parlor or in the
ESL program. And when
you left the school, or
the earth, and you lost
touch because: landlines,
or cancer, you would
bump into each other again
in Dearborn, Michigan
at a restaurant neither
of you chose. Or at a
funeral 35 years later
where you could understand
the English, but not much
of anything else. Landlines
made sense. Cancer
does not. Other lessons
learned included: leftovers
are more important than
clothes, but less important
than dessert. And make
sure to get the full
name of your friend's
boyfriend, in case
he's the cashier you
have a crush on.
Mexicana and The Greek
were destined to
meet. They survived
a land that promised
more than it had.