Ocean Away
I wish you never taught me how cruel language could be.
The sign for foster parent in ASL is fake.
Fake Mother, Fake Father, Fake Sibling, Fake Brother.
FALSE-PARENT, signed. No amount of perceived bluntness covers up the cruelty
That left me sobbing, heavy tears falling as I stepped down the bus lane.
I thought to myself, how can one language be so cruel?
Yet English is cruel too–
Stepfamily, Stepfather, Stepmother, Stepchildren, Step, Step, Step…
Like it measures the space between us.
I don’t know any other languages,
Yet I hope no others are this cruel.