My grandfather was a gardener.

At various times, my grandparents would bring,

trunk loads of food to our house.

Perhaps, because we were growing

and we were ravenous.

Hungry for both language and food.

English was, however, not his first language.

Although his hands could grow and build remarkable things,

around us he was a man of few words.

I wonder now, whether his few words,

were related to the fact that English,

was throughout his life – his non native tongue.

While he did not provide tons of words,

he did provide, over the years, tons of food.

I am old enough now to recognize that,

people show love in so many varied ways.

Now his great granddaughters,

whom he never met,

study his native German.

If he were alive today,

would he now tell them things –

that he never had the words to tell us?

© words by Daniel DeMarle 1/2/2026