I have always read with eyes and mind.
Skimmed and skipped.
Read for tests.
Read for information.
Read ahead to find out.
But lately I find myself reading anew,
and in this endeavour curse my pathetic,
all too American,
one language, poverty.
I am afraid,
Jari and Roberto and so very many others
that it is I who must apologize.
This came to me starkly
when I sat up straight and proud
having prised a literal meaning
from a poem posted in French.
Only to read the translation
and see how very poor I was.
So to you who write in other languages,
I stand
bowed head and ashamed,
to say
I am just now
beginning to learn
to read with the heart.