Not a found poem
But a purchased one –
To find Ewrop on a single cup
Despite the English on top –
Re use
duce
cycle
Birziklatu
Genbruge
Endurvinna
And then the more familiar –
Recycle
Recycler
Recycleren
Recyceln
Till there
Sharing the plastic vessel
Of my papaya smoothie
Is ailgylchu
Cymraeg finding its place
In a parched Continent
Of vocabulary –
If only language
Could quench –
But then
The holes
Those missing words
(Aihcursail)
The water leaks –
Not ready to mourn them yet –
Let’s fill a higher cup.
Mike Jenkins is a retired teacher of English living in Merthyr Tydfil. Latest book is Seams of People ( Carreg Gwalch) . Forthcoming books : Igh Sheriff o Merthyr ( Carreg Gwalch) poems in Merthyr dialect & , as editor, Yer Ower Voices! poems in English and Welsh dialects from Cymru.