Another product of the workshop that produced "Unfaithful". This time, a 'found' poem the result (Basically, we were read a poem called "Orange Flowers" and told to write another one using words and images you got from the original.) The original had something to do with BC Place stadium and a flower seller, I think.

I read the poem and glanced down and noticed that one of the worksheets I had gotten from my Russian class was poking out of my notebook, just far enough for me to be able to read "оранжевые" ... which happens to mean 'orange'. One thought process led to another and...

Ah well. Enjoy.

Orange Flowers
Oranzheviye tsvesti

I see those words in two languages
My mind thinking of both
And neither

Like so many other double words,
One passing through my brain
The other on the tip of my tongue
Wanting to be said,
But nervously bitten back
Hidden behind a cursory hello
And a thin smile

Dual nature,
Reminding me of myself
Of when I’m around you
I seem loud and blasé
All the world’s a stage,
I say carelessly,
And yet I watch you curiously
For your eyes avoid mine so often
That I wonder if it is deliberate,
The thought making me
Feel a discouragement I’d never show

And when I finally catch them,
I search, my body taught,
For that flicker …
That flicker of something
Life, laughter, a smile –
Interest.

But to look for those things
In your face
Already so well schooled,
Compared to mine
Seems almost as ridiculous
As orange flowers.