Welsh Lesson

Inspired by my experiences as a Welsh learner, this poem came second in the Aber Valley Arts Festival in South Wales.

English proclaims,
“I have a dog.”
But Welsh explains,
“Mae ci gyda fi.”
A dog is with me.

English,
Obsessed with what is possessed,
Claims to own
Dog, cat, family, home.
But Welsh,
Less prone to a proprietary tone,
Sees all these
As simply
Gyda fi.

With me, says Welsh,
And free to be
Who or what they are.
Not strictly mine;
Just with me,
For a time.

English speaks
Of finder and keepers,
Not sowers but reapers,
Of mine all miners
And own pocket liners,
Of personal gainers,
Staking a claimers.

But Welsh sings
Of ebbers and flow-ers,
And letting it goers,
Of bringers and sharers
With plenty to sparers,
Of risers and setters,
Forgive and forgetters.

English maintains,
“I have a dog.”
But Welsh exclaims,
“Mae ci gyda fi.”
I do not have to have a dog
To enjoy
A dog walking
With me.