TITLE (EDIT) Selection From I Displace The Air As I Walk
DESCRIPTION
"I displace the air as I walk" is a collection of short literary pieces: narrative stories in condensed form and poem-pieces that reflect larger universal themes of understanding and misunderstanding, communication and miscommunication. These writings are culled from Ms. Kanter’s journals of the past eighteen years during which time she has lived and travelled in Madrid, Southern Spain, the Dominican Republic, Morocco and the United States. The book is divided into six geographical spaces and/or time frames each highlighted by a role definition:
The Wanderer: Spain 1967-69 The Zookeeper: Caribe The Guest: Morocco The Expat: Boston The Stranger: Tarifa The Resident: Madrid
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
Ms. Kanter brings to her creative writing her extensive experience as a Bilingual Speech and Language Pathologist, Intercultural Consultant and Trainer, and her experiences and introspections while living in different cultures. She holds degrees from Ohio University and the University of Cincinnati, USA. Born in Cincinnati, she currently divides her time between Madrid and Tarifa, Spain where she is working on new writings and offering readings and training sessions.
“The act of creating is part of my reflective process. I am interested in understanding human behavior, my own and that of others. My pieces serve as a corpus for the sharing of points of view. They provoke dialogue about daily life, larger universal themes of human communication and interaction, and literary form and content. I write for facilitating exchange within myself and with others, for my own learning and development, and for enhancing learning in others too.”
Selection From I Displace The Air As I Walk Marjorie Kanter
Four Spaniards in Asilah
I overheard their order.
Shortly the waiter arrived with three coffees.
A bit odd, they were four not three.
They said, “Falta uno.”
The waiter reappeared with a Fanta. (That's orange pop!)
They said, “We didn't order a Fanta, we ordered four coffees, not three. ¡Falta uno! One is missing. We're missing one coffee! ¡Falta uno!”
He decidedly so assuredly and most definitely said,
“¡You said, Fanta uno! THERE IT IS.”
(They drew lots to see who would get the Fanta.)
*
Entrepreneur
In Asilah, Morocco,
we kept hearing about these kittens that had been bought
and then disappeared from
their owners.
Day 1 Friend 1
(He) told us he'd bought this cute little kitten from this cute little kid.
The next day the cat was gone,
his pet had vanished.
Day 2 Friend 2
The same.
Day 3 Friend 3
The same.
Day 4 Friend 4 bought a kitten.
We got all the friends together to see how cute it was.
Everyone said, “Hey! That's my kitten.”
Then they each described the little boy.
He was so tall.
His hair was so short.
He was dressed so.
He spoke Spanish.
He spoke English.
He spoke French.
He spoke Arabic.
He was so cute.
Tak. Tak.
The other day
I went into the (latest) Chinese grocerette
a few doors down from us.
The attendant and I
have begun a light conversational friendly relationship.
(I) ask (him)
to teach me a word or two of Chinese each time I go in
and he asks me for a Spanish word or two in exchange.
I've even bought a phrase book to help us out.
Today when I arrived, another customer was there being attended to.
I judged him to be a foreigner, a guiri,
an outside-outsider.
Just visiting (in) town.
Anglo was my guess.
I'd say a Brit or an American.
About my age perhaps.
Someone respectable.
A few gray hairs here and there.
I thought he displayed a certain amount
of power energy(d) knowledge.
As he left he said, “Tak.Tak.”
The Chinese attendant dependent responded with
something lengthy I couldn't quite catch.
When he, the guiri, had left, I asked the Chinese guy,
my teacher, my friend,
“What does Tak.Tak. mean?”
He said, “I don't know.”
*
Noah's Ark
(I) went to this little local grocery store to buy a Coke.
Ahead of me there was this grandma
and (her) granddaughter.
The attendant was carefully taking twin penny candies, golosinas, chucherias,
out of each box.
There must
have been fifty of these boxes
(each with a different model)
a curious assortment of
candied colored jellied sugar candy...
licorice strips...fried eggs...pink and baby-blue teeth...
loops and hoops...spiders...
half-full half-empty Coca-Cola bottles...
red lips...blue lips...purple lips...
I said to grandma, “Having a party?”
She said, “No. It's the only thing I can eat.
I had a cerebral h(a)emorrhage
y no puedo tomar sal ni nada. Not even salt.”
The bag filled, she paid and she left.
The little girl stayed behind.
She bought a beer and then left too.
*
Transaction
She
moved
back
when
I
moved
closer.
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