* Ali Na is a phonetic transcription of a polite way to ask 'what?' in Thai.
I didn’t know your smile when we began.
Furrowed brow and a quick ‘ali na?’
My explanations not given time.
Always sat carefully opposite me.
Confused; your head often in your hands.
Every new word hastily transcribed.
My whiteboard; any scrap of blank paper.
After one happy, Friday lesson,
The frequent new smiling refrain; ‘game’.
Whenever I closed my ‘teachers’ notebook,
A quick leap across the small table,
Laughing, leaning in close against me,
So we could trawl the phrase book together.
Our nonsensical conversation,
Deeper when we had our translators.
You were the only one to ask whether,
I missed my Mum back in England,
Insights that I knew made you my friend.
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