Some days, in the grocery store, I stare at fruit
I cannot describe and struggle to match my list
of American food terminology to the Aussie reality
on the shelves: how tomato sauce is a ketchup;
use bolognese on pasta. Bicarb for the dough.
of my mouth until I'm speaking a hybrid of native
tongue and cultural cues mixed up in a melting pot
until I don't even realize that I'm using words
I had to relearn and practice until they felt natural.
Sometimes, though, I catch the newest words,
in my vocabulary, not tripping over the diction,
but watching them pass, pausing to admire them
and see if I still remember the American equivalent.
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