English As a Second Language

English is my second language,
but the first is unpronounceable.
I learned it from the cradle when it called
both to and from me in my own heart’s voice,
its urgency unsoundable,
I echoed back what feeble cries I could
of loneliness; cries,
writhing from inside my ill-fit skin,
of terror; cries
of hunger that has never yet been sated.

 

About the Poet: Eric Delp is a poet and writer living in Oxford, Mississippi.

 

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