746: Elena
"Elena"
Pat Mora
My Spanish isn't enough.
I remember how I'd smile
listening to my little ones,
understanding every word they'd say,
their jokes, their songs, their plots.
Vamos a pedirle dulces a mama. Vamos.
But that was in Mexico.
Now my children go to American high schools.
They speak English. At night they sit around
the kitchen table, laugh with one another.
I stand by the stove and feel dumb, alone.
I bought a book to learn English.
My husband frowned, drank more beer.
My oldest said, "Mama, he doesn't want you
to be smarter than he is." I'm forty,
embarrassed at mispronouncing words,
embarrassed at the laughter of my children,
the grocer, the mailman. Sometimes I take
my English book and lock myself in the bathroom,
say the thick words softly,
for if I stop trying, I will be deaf
when my children need my help.
My search on Pat Mora led me to the website Lotsofessays.com and I saw an excerpt of a paper on "Elena". Part of it read, In line 6 she says, 'Vamos a pedirle dulces a mama. Vamos' which translated using Babel Fish means 'We are going to request to him sweet to breast we go' (Babel Fish Translation http://world.altavista.com/babelfish/tr). This more intimate line about breast feeding her children she cannot even say in English, it must be in Spanish, the language of her heart.
I just found that "translation" amusing and wanted to share.
Pat Mora
My Spanish isn't enough.
I remember how I'd smile
listening to my little ones,
understanding every word they'd say,
their jokes, their songs, their plots.
Vamos a pedirle dulces a mama. Vamos.
But that was in Mexico.
Now my children go to American high schools.
They speak English. At night they sit around
the kitchen table, laugh with one another.
I stand by the stove and feel dumb, alone.
I bought a book to learn English.
My husband frowned, drank more beer.
My oldest said, "Mama, he doesn't want you
to be smarter than he is." I'm forty,
embarrassed at mispronouncing words,
embarrassed at the laughter of my children,
the grocer, the mailman. Sometimes I take
my English book and lock myself in the bathroom,
say the thick words softly,
for if I stop trying, I will be deaf
when my children need my help.
My search on Pat Mora led me to the website Lotsofessays.com and I saw an excerpt of a paper on "Elena". Part of it read, In line 6 she says, 'Vamos a pedirle dulces a mama. Vamos' which translated using Babel Fish means 'We are going to request to him sweet to breast we go' (Babel Fish Translation http://world.altavista.com/babelfish/tr). This more intimate line about breast feeding her children she cannot even say in English, it must be in Spanish, the language of her heart.
I just found that "translation" amusing and wanted to share.