I intended to say we share words as well,
although it takes just two of us and a common language
to articulate a tower.
More like that Sunday magazine article
On dying languages in Patagonia
Than we care to say:
I asked her if she ever had
a conversation with the only other person
in the world who [spoke Yaghan].
No, Emelinda said impatiently,
the two of us don’t talk.
You might have said we are forever tossing
sound about in places where ideas are gathered
then drummed into senselessness.
That we are approaching the moment
when we will sit at a café table
telling secrets but speaking in tongues.
I intended to say we share words as well,
and the speechlessness of aged Yaghan women
hoarding icy words in a land of fire.
Originally published in Front Range Review
Note: Following the death of 84-year-old Emelinda Acuña (1921 – October 12, 2005), only one native speaker remains, Cristina Calderón of Villa Ukika on Navarino Island, Chile. Calderón (often referred to as simply Abuela) is the sister-in-law of Acuña.
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