Aqua

6 months had passed since 
that day I did not see you in the park.
It was a gorgeous afternoon 
and I was 
taking my dog, Her Royal 
Highness, Princess of the 

Dogs, for a walk. I looked for 
you for two hours before
the bums came out at twilight, 
and one offered to knit
me a homemade afghan if I gave 
fifty dollars. I declined, but the
word 'afghan' made me think: 
do afghans come from Afghanistan?

Do they have trees in Afghanistan? 
Or toilets? Where did they get their
water, or "aqua," as they say in 
Spanish, though I don't
think the Afghans speak Spanish. 
Not the rugs, the country. 
 
Princess of the Dogs--or Princess,
for short--is part Dalmation, 
part Sharpee, part 
something else: Chihuahua, maybe, 
or Mexican. 

But she doesn't speak Spanish.
I am not bilingual, though 
I know a few words in Spanish: 
"Hola," "Adios," "abuela." 
Water is "aqua," there is 
not much "aqua" in Mexico. 

Does Mexico have many beaches? 
I ask a Spaniard this question--
perhaps he is a "hombre"?
He shrugs. "No, chica. 
No habla ingles. No aqua."
"Water" is "aqua." "Blue" is azuel." 
No means the same
thing in every language