Stuck in Between

Anne Fernandez

Everytime I try and explain myself I can’t Can’t because I get stuck between the conjugations La palabras of mi y tú (translation: the words of me and you) Or is it usted? (translation: or is it a more formal you) I feel like I’m on a rocky bridge Constantly trying to balance itself between Spanish and English A frog leaping from a lily pad of ums to yo no sé (translation: a frog leaping from a lily pad of ums to I don’t know) Yo no sé como explicarte que yo estoy pensando (translation: I don’t know how to explain to you what I’m thinking) Me toqeo y me frustro cuando no sé como decir una palabra (translation: I get stuck and frustrated when I don’t know how to say a word) I know this in English but how the hell do I translate it to Spanish? Odio que no lo puedo hablar suavemente como ustedes (translation: I hate that I can’t speak it smoothly like you guys) Lo hablo apaso (translation: I speak it slow) Cada segundo pensando en como lo voy a decir (translation: thinking every second of how I’m going to say this) I feel like my parents don’t understand my quirkiness because it’s rooted in English A language they have yet to learn Their tongue in a sword battle with the letter “e” Everytime they want to say a word that starts with an “s” “E” school “E” strawberry “E” stress