Page 42 of The Secret to Belonging

homemade bread

butter and jam

everyone sits together

Lise scoots next to you

squeezes your hand under the table

like you are secret friends

they lob questions like tennis balls

all in Norwegian

they’ve been coached to avoid English

immersion from day one, Karl-Peter said

you think they’re asking about

school and work and family

you’re unsure

panic flares

language is a barrier

but so is heartache

you don’t want to pollute

their loveliness with lies of home

Bjørn takes pity and switches over

just for the first day, he says, kindly

and we need practice, too, says Lise.

Erik won’t look directly at you

but spies from the corner of his eye

he’ll start English this year in school,

says Elinor, but he understands a lot

he is only seven, but you recognize

yourself in his confusion

Lise spends the entire day

tugging you around the house

drilling common nouns