Anyone who travels has undoubtedly experienced snippets of foreign conversations in airports, on streets, and in restaurants. Dana Yost’s poem in NDQ 91.1/2 offers a brilliant window into one of these interactions. Enjoy!

 

A Foreign Language

She sat at the table

next to him,
speaking a foreign
language, speaking
with such weight
—with such weight—
that he thought
something tremendous
was going to happen.
She kept speaking
and, after a time,
rose from the table
and walked away.
With lament,
he was certain
he would not
know what she
was talking about
for the rest
of his life.

~

Dana Yost lives in Sioux Falls, SD. He is a three-time Pushcart nominee. He is the author of nine books, the most recent being Free-Fall, a poetry chapbook published by Finishing Line Press.

91.1/2