Forever Foreigner

Forever Foreigner

I am bad at Cantonese

Just over three years, it's been

Since I started learning.

Has it really been three years?

Four pairs of jeans I’ve gone through

Before remembering the word fu

Because flowers so similar

And you know one of them is called a fa

But I don't remember simple things

Like if, or pull, or same, or bring

And that's so damn disheartening

To think that babies learn it better than me

Even though babies aren't better than me.

Just because they say 一二三 not 1,2,3

Babies can't even walk up stairs

But I bet they know the word for them.

What am I doing wrong?

Is it too much for my simple brain?

Do I have a full memory, no space for new vocabulary?

Am I doomed to be a monolinguist

A forever tourist?

Because I cannot absorb these

Cantonese mnemonics

Any week. Every week.

Every damn week.

The only phrase I repeat:

“I really should know this by now.”

SHAMBLES RAMBLE