extra E that created kept slipping back in line behind the D. And “Z as in zebra,” I said, “Z as in zebra, zebra, zig-zagged, stripey horselike mammal,” until soon I was googling above earth, over my street where I own a small patch of property, my street that slopes towards town but has to end somewhere.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Kurzröderstraße
I ordered the Iowa Review by phone. I had to spell the name of my street five times. After the second time, the operator was still reading it back wrong. I was going to let it go by, I do love approximations, but wouldn’t that be like ripping 28 dollar bills in half in front of your rich uncle Henry minus the holier-than-thou of it? I made a little joke to show the operator I understood the trouble spelling, that I was not a stuck-up European, and she seemed reassured. Both of us laughed, ha, and began again. Again began and, ha, laughed us of both. I was growing unsure of my pronunciation of the letter K, the most comic letter in English, but entirely straight in German. I spared her the umlaut of the second syllable, but the 
extra E that created kept slipping back in line behind the D. And “Z as in zebra,” I said, “Z as in zebra, zebra, zig-zagged, stripey horselike mammal,” until soon I was googling above earth, over my street where I own a small patch of property, my street that slopes towards town but has to end somewhere.
extra E that created kept slipping back in line behind the D. And “Z as in zebra,” I said, “Z as in zebra, zebra, zig-zagged, stripey horselike mammal,” until soon I was googling above earth, over my street where I own a small patch of property, my street that slopes towards town but has to end somewhere.
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7 comments:
You are extremely insightful, which is news to no one that reads this blog. I wish I had the confidence that you seem to have when writing, even in my own journal. How does one overcome the fear of criticism and keep putting themselves out there? Hardly the point, but this is exactly why I order online. :)
oh, thanks a lot. i think most everyone is afraid of being criticized, or made fun of, but what the hay. i enjoy writing, like most bloggers. it's nice anyone reads it.
I very much enjoyed my time here; as a poet and an avid reader, I found it both enlightening and entertaining. Thank you...
sarah, i love that mirror sentence.
and i'm happy that my fourteen-year-old-schoolgirl german makes it possible to pronounce the name of your street. and i think i could have a go at spelling it, too!!
(sheesh, i hope this comment doesn't post three times. i have tried three times to post it lol)
oops
*kate blushes and grovels*
i fixed it up, kate. cheers
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