Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Yi Sha

Exchange

in Nässjö, in a park by a lake
a black headscarf fails to wrap away her beauty—
the Arabic woman on the swing

as I approached her
she spoke to me
in English
I misunderstood
under the impression that she was telling me to go away
that she wanted this idle
suspicious-looking character
to get away from her this instant

as I hesitated
I made sense of the last part
of what she was saying
she was asking me
whether I wanted a turn on the swing
offering
to get off the swing for me

how I wanted to walk over
and give her a push
so that the Arabic woman
on the swing
would go a little higher

but after thinking it over
I gave up on the idea

EXCHANGE

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Exchange

in Nässjö, in a park by a lake
a black headscarf fails to wrap away her beauty—
the Arabic woman on the swing

as I approached her
she spoke to me
in English
I misunderstood
under the impression that she was telling me to go away
that she wanted this idle
suspicious-looking character
to get away from her this instant

as I hesitated
I made sense of the last part
of what she was saying
she was asking me
whether I wanted a turn on the swing
offering
to get off the swing for me

how I wanted to walk over
and give her a push
so that the Arabic woman
on the swing
would go a little higher

but after thinking it over
I gave up on the idea

Exchange

in Nässjö, in a park by a lake
a black headscarf fails to wrap away her beauty—
the Arabic woman on the swing

as I approached her
she spoke to me
in English
I misunderstood
under the impression that she was telling me to go away
that she wanted this idle
suspicious-looking character
to get away from her this instant

as I hesitated
I made sense of the last part
of what she was saying
she was asking me
whether I wanted a turn on the swing
offering
to get off the swing for me

how I wanted to walk over
and give her a push
so that the Arabic woman
on the swing
would go a little higher

but after thinking it over
I gave up on the idea
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Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
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