To Understand

OLIVIA O’BRIEN, PORTO, PORTUGAL

TO BY OLIVIA PETERS UNDERSTAND

I sit looking at the Seine Stroking the spine of a book That I’ve come to know

I can’t read its text Though I’ve tried once daily since my arrival My only friend Deteriorating before my eyes Pleads: Comprendre

I strain my ear Towards neighboring café conversations Not eavesdropping Just hoping to recognize Any comfort between their fricatives

After I inhale a deep breath It comes out as a sigh Floating up in the smooth evening Where it slides Into thousands of others’ As a collective admiring aspiration That forms the breeze making us all comfortable Amidst the summer humidity

Our breathes churn and ripple in a Van Gogh sky Undulating in harmony And understanding And cohesion

My gaze scans the passersby Wondering if anyone else is watching That movement up above Wondering if anyone is considering me Like I consider them all

I stroke the spine of my companion And crack it open once again Because my time here is running out