Making Friends

She didn’t know much English
Nor I much Polish, but
We both loved dogs and rubbed them
Forehead, nose and throat;

She didn’t know much English
But we both drew pictures and
Coloured them with crayons—

The language of the hand;

She didn’t know much English
But when she sat upon my chair
She patted it with her little hand
That said, “You can sit here”;

We couldn’t speak in words today
But we could understand
As we made friends all morning
In the new Ireland.