Monday, February 22, 2010

Swans and Vowels

Another poem that seems like one thing but has a twist ending. The end is actually pretty personal for me - all through high school I felt mocked and judged for my American accent when I spoke Russian and getting rid of it was pretty high on my list of things to do before I died back then.


Immigrant
Fleur Adcock


November ‘63: eight months in London.
I pause on the low bridge to watch the pelicans:
they float swanlike, arching their white necks
over only slightly ruffled bundles of wings,
burying awkward beaks in the lake’s water.


I clench cold fists in my Marks and Spencer`s jacket
and secretly test my accent once again:
St James’s Park; St James’s Park; St James’s Park.

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