Trois, Tres, or Três Second Languages

French was my first second language
“J’ai huit ans” and kisses on both cheeks to say hello
The boys were catching prawns in the azure blue of the coast of Antibes
I reheared the words over and over on my way to them
Let the French tumble out of my mouth
Garbled in my Standard American English tongue
Perhaps they barely understood
But I soon learned to speak in yelps of excitement
Spotting squirming fish around mossy rocks
 
Spanish was my second second language.
“Yo compro zapatos” and forget about “vosotros” because nobody uses it
I’d known uno through diez since I was seis years old
But now I could speak my way through Mexico
Almost
“Qué?” slipped through my teeth more
Than anything actually comprehensible
Thankfully the niños I met didn’t mind
Tag is universal in almost every language
 
Portuguese was my third second language.
“Boa tarde” and Brazilians love to tease
Fortunately, so do I
He stared at me, shocked
The riff was poorly executed
And maybe too harsh
But it came out with a fluency
Most other phrases I attempted could only long to have
“Parabéns, your Portuguese is getting good.”
I grinned
Praise, it turns out, is one of my first languages