Listening to a conversation in another language,
it’s tempting to infer intrigue—to make-believe
a measure of depth, an element of romance.

but in german, french or kiswahili, there are still
the necessary exchanges about lost keys, dead light
bulbs or the number of mosquitoes skimming the lake.

Heidi Wallis received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from California State University, Chico, where she studied with Jeanne Clark, Ellen Walker, and Joanne Harris Allred. She currently works as a copywriter and finds time for poetry on the ferry between work and her home in Sausalito. Her poetry has been published or is forthcoming in The Critical Pass Review, Existere, The MacGuffin, Pennsylvania English, and Watershed Review. 

© 2014 Heidi Wallis