I try to explain the difference between pant & pants
why the former isn’t simply one pair
but what the lungs do with fear or excitement
why clothe isn’t a singular noun
but what most do to the body each morning
she calls on a Wednesday needs help
with an assignment for her third English
beginners course where she meets twice a week
her classmates from countries with names beautiful as hers
I try to make the language clear to my mother
as she one day —before my English took hold—
explained to me that I did not in fact make friends
with a girl named Sorry:
but we were on the playground and she hit me, fue accidenté,
y me dijo “I’m sorry” & when someone says I am, yo soy—
that’s not how this works I remind her
when she asks if the plural of dust is dusts
she asks me to conjugate love
I love you love he loves she loved
we loved you have loved I am loving
she wants to know how a word can be both
a thing and an action like war & mistake
although I can’t put into words in Spanish
how I know the difference so I tell her I have to go
and I go & she goes & I haven’t taught her anything
Amezcua, Eloisa. From the Inside Quietly. Sundress Publications, 2018