L'étrangère

(Luz... Porto)

"Call unto me, and I will answer thee,

and show thee great and might things,

which thou knowest not."

(Jeremiah 33:3)

In a foreign language

I say my prayer.

In a language I heard of

Somewhere in my dreams-

Or in my despair.

Its grammar, its syntax

And its phonetics I ignore.

It appeals to me

When I am lonely

When my heart bleeds

When no words come to my tongue

When my eyes are dry of tears

When no sweat comes through my body.

Will God understand my devotion?

I cannot answer...

Perhaps he may read the lines of my hands

Or see the secret paths of my soul

Or listen to the strange rythm of my heart.

Maybe he will have mercy on me

And teach me my own idiom.

For I have just realized

I am a perfect strange to myself.