Our Language

The fisherman: evening effect by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, c. 1865.

Teach me a new language.

When I lean close to whisper

I don’t want to use other people’s words,

the whole world staring over my shoulder —

cop’s flashlight in the window

of my words.

Teach me words that only we understand

alone, together,

looking

through one-way mirrors

at their world.

(written March 9, 1968, New Haven, CT. revised Jan. 25, 2018, Milford, CT)

List of Richard’s other jokes, stories, poems, and essays.