Hotdog.<\/p>\n
We pull to a stop in front
\nOf their woodframe house
\nSet back from the sleepy
\nOak and maple treed street
\nIn downstate New York,
\nA stone’s throw
\nFrom the Hudson River.<\/p>\n
My wife’s cousins I am Canajun, eh? On the eight hour trip to visit, There’s a shop near my home that Hi, says my wife’s Irish cousin, Not a word about hotdogs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hotdog. We pull to a stop in front Of their woodframe house Set back from the sleepy Oak and maple treed street In downstate New York, A stone’s throw From the Hudson River. My wife’s cousins Who grew up in … Continue reading
\nWho grew up in the Bronx
\nAnd are populating these old dutch hills
\nWith growing broods of Irish Armericans,
\nSpeak English in their own heads
\nThe way it is written
\nAs do I.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nAnd I live
\nNorth of New York State,
\nNorth of the St. Lawrence River.
\nI say hawkee; they say hackee:
\nMy mouth is vertical; theirs horizontal.<\/p>\n
\nIt amuses me to try to pronounce “hotdog”
\nRipping the vowels apart to my ear
\nMuch as, to my ear, they do.
\nMy wife sighs beside me.
\nAs I listen to them in my head,
\nI hear them put a gutteral
\n“A” in front of the first “o”
\n(Which they then distort
\nTo make it part of the gutteral “a”),
\nThen they put a “w” in front of
\nThe second “o” as: “haahtdwog”.
\nBy the same token, I am sure it
\nAmuses them to try to verticalize
\nTheir lips and try to pronounce
\nMy word: “hahtdahg”.<\/p>\n
\nCalls them by another name: steamers.
\nI see the sign: “Steamers 60\u00a2<\/i> ”<\/p>\n
\nGiving me a hug Good to see you.
\nIt’s been too long. Come on in.<\/p>\n