Gratitude In A Foreign Language

You made me a bowl of soup when I looked sickly

And placed it on my doorstep

If your generosity equated to a currency

I would forever be in its debt

I have learned that families don’t necessarily

Have to share the same ancestry or history

Your kindness taught me that the love of a family

Is not bound by blood but by the acts around

In the warmth of your gesture a home was found

When I first arrived at this house

German words hid cowardly behind my voice,

Disorganized like a messy crowd

I felt like a mime whose thoughts were left unpronounced

An inescapable struggle I couldn’t avoid

My self-esteem crumbles like a leaf to a flame

Leaving my hope of fluently speaking German as its squandered embers

My confidence shudders beneath the weight of the shame

Of not being able to speak a language I’ve been learning for ages

Despite the entanglement of words that I spoke

You both had patience to deal with broken syllables between each of my words

I thank you both greatly for caring for me like I was a daughter

You made me desserts that warmed my inner child’s heart

I offer my thanks in heartfelt hue

For being more than just homeowners, but family true