He is learning English.
He likes to practice.
– So tell me what your life is like
here
asks the passenger.
He practices talking.
– My life is very filled
he says
his life is full.
He drives this cab: all days
most hours.
He studies.
He works hard and he
is learning.
Family?
No family.
There is no
since he was 15.
His passenger asks
– Was it hard?
– getting out?
he waded down
a river he swam
at night: smell
bodies
bits of bodies
like bouillabaisse
and mines
and he
did not know how
or where
to turn or which direction
and the delta was a swamp
clogged with flesh and he trod
and wished
for moonlight and the sea and
for his uncle:
who was dead
among bodies somewhere
else
and now
he is here.
He is learning.
Not so hard.
Elly McDonald 