Slab-flat vowels like a block of dough
slapped down on the kneading board;
sibilant aromas of spice and fruit from afar off
mingle with crisp consonants.
Syllables roll like oranges through
the early morning marketplace; polyphonic
strangers drawn by the guttural growl
of hunger and homesickness.
So long lost in translation, the tongue
is astonished by the sudden taste of home.
About Rosalind C Hughes
Rosalind C Hughes is an Episcopal priest, poet, and author living near the shores of Lake Erie. After growing up in England and Wales, and living briefly in Singapore, she is now settled in Ohio. Rosalind is the author of A Family Like Mine: Biblical Stories of Love, Loss, and Longing , and Whom Shall I Fear? Urgent Questions for Christians in an Age of Violence, both from Upper Room Books. She loves the lake, misses the ocean, and is finally coming to terms with snow.
over the water 