Juanita Rey

Subtitled

He took me to a French film
with English subtitles.
I was expecting to watch and listen
not read.

And my occasional glimpses
back and forth from the
way the lips move to the translation
were even more disconcerting.

It was as if I spoke to the guy
in my native Spanish
and the words in his language
scrawled across my chin.

Eventually though,
I settled down and enjoyed the movie,
the images, the sound, the dialogue,
all coming together
despite myself.

My date was a white fellow worker.
Something similar
happened with us.