Learning a language by Olivia McMahon

Learning a language by Olivia McMahon

Learning a language

is like doing a jigsaw puzzle

of a million pieces

with a picture that keeps changing.

It's like getting lost in a foreign city without a map.

It's like playing tennis without a ball,

like being an ant in a field of grasshoppers.

It's like being an acrobat with a broken leg,

an actor without a script,

a carpenter without a saw,

a storyteller without a middle or an end.

But then gradually

it's like being out in the early morning

with the mists lifting.

It's like a chink of light under a door,

like finding the glove you were lookingfor,

catching the train you thought you were going to miss,

getting an unlooked-for present,

exchanging a smile.

And then one day it's like riding a bicycle

very fast downhill.