May 13~ REED VENRICK

Thanks for stopping by, poetry fans. Today we're shining the spotlight on Reed Venrick, who brings us a two part poem called "Half-Sisters." Thank you, Reed, for sharing your words with SHINE!

Half-Sisters

No, to be honest, there are
Several things I like about
Reading Spanish writing

Over French writing, and
Portuguese as well; I can get
Into that later, since you

Mention it—however, there is
Something I rather like about
French over Spanish, and

Over reading Portuguese
For that matter, and that is:
French keeps the subject

Of the sentence or the clause
In actions and sequence
Discussions; they don’t drop

It out like the way they do
In Spanish, Portuguese, or
Italian, for that matter, which

Is why sometimes when I read
Spanish or Portuguese—some
Article or something online—I get

A bit lost; for that style of writing
Is called a “pro-drop language,”
A curious metaphor to be sure, but

Dropping out the subsequent subject
Makes it harder to understand who
Is doing what to whom; or what

The hell is doing what to whatever;
Of course, I don’t deny it’s my fault
In the sense that—if I knew my verb

Tenses “par coeur” as they say in French
Or “aprender de cor” in Portuguese, *1
If I really knew my tenses like a good

School boy looking to the grade, I would
Identify “from memory” the verb’s subject
I’m puzzling about, but yeah, I’m just

Glad French is courteous to language
Learners and does not drop out subjects,
And, well, English is like that as well.

PART TWO
Because English, it’s like French
In that sense—we also tend to keep
Those sentence subjects when

Speaking in continuous sequence
Or actions, although, frankly, and
I hesitate to admit this, but personally,

I, in speaking English, I do
Sometimes drop my subjects from
Sentences when I’m speaking on

My I-phone—because, well, adding
The subject slows down my rhythm,
See what I’m getting at? So…

Yeah I guess that’s my influence
From Portuguese, because yeah, I
Worked for years over in Brazil,

But frankly, it’s my obsessive desire
To be concise—“You must have spoken
Latin in another life,” my wife laughs,

She says Tacitus is my unacknowledged
Favorite writer—true, he’s word-stingy *2
In a language that was already military-

Frugal with words, but no, as I say, I worked
As a carpenter with the service corps
In the Amazon; there we built island bungalows

Made from bamboo poles and palm fronds;
And, if you think about it, there’s no
Excuse for extra boards or extra nails when

Building bungalows. as well as building sentences,
But yeah, all this is to say, and I want to make
This bell-clear, why I maintain English and

French are “sister languages”—despite
Objections of those “cafe et cigarette”
Doubters in Montemartre, or a cafe I go

To over in the Latin Quarter on “la rive *3
“Gauche,” those who will exclaim in that
Manner…how can I say? “Descartian way”

Of conversing: “Oh no! French is older!
Much older than English! Check out
The timeline!” But as I said in response:

“Have you ever noticed that sometimes
Siblings in the same family can be far
Apart in age? See what I mean? I don’t

See how the “older than thou argument”
Counters my assertion!” And by the way, there
Was an event called the French invasion

Of 1066, and I’ve heard a rumor that
There was a bit of incestuous-word-mixing,
But okay, if you wish, call us “half-sisters,”

Because hey! For the sake of clarity,
Which is the greatest virtue in any language:
We’re both “non-pro-drop languages!” *4


FOOTNOTES:
1. By heart

2. Noted for concision, Tacitus
Often dropped out conjunctions and
Prepositions that would show clarity.
Few careful writers would advocate dropping
Those connecting words that show
The precise relation between clauses,
But if that’s not enough, Tacitus
Is known even for dropping out
Verbs, which will create even more
Confusion in the reader than dropping
Subjects, which is common in romance
Languages—except for French; still,
Tacitus’ brevity is a good contrast to Cicero
Who often wrote overflowing—extending
Sentences with confusing multi clauses,
Multi phrases.

3. The Left Bank

4. Yes, this clumsy phrase actually exists
In linguistics to classify French and English
As those languages that maintain their subjects
In an extended discussion about whatever.

​Reed Venrick resides near Marseille, France; writes on French themes and things.

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