The young child strolled with his parents
in the cool of evening
He pointed
I overheard him say
“Hola, luna!”
High school Spanish came to me immediately
I smiled
and looked up, indeed saw the moon
The boy had said, “Hello, moon!”
as any child would
in any language
in any culture
His parents delighted
as any parents
in any language
in any culture
would be
as I was
My heart quickened
I spoke the words for myself
full of first-sight wonder
“Hola, luna!”
“Buenas noches, luna!”
I remember the first words I heard spoken in Spanish outside of the classroom and off of the radio. “Mira Mimi, mira.” and I was so pleased to know what he said. Two kids outside a New York apt on the fire escape. I don’t know what he was telling her to look at though.