The Struggle Between Two Languages
Imagine having two languages fighting in your mouth - that's exactly what Bhatt describes in this powerful poem. She uses direct address by asking "what would you do" to make you feel personally connected to her experience of language loss.
The poem starts with harsh, uncomfortable imagery about languages rotting and dying. Bhatt describes how her mother tongue (her native Gujarati) feels like it's decaying when she has to constantly speak English. The metaphor of spitting out a rotting tongue creates genuinely sickening imagery that mirrors how isolating this experience feels.
What makes this poem brilliant is how Bhatt includes actual Gujarati text in the middle. Even if you can't read it, you experience what it's like to encounter a foreign language - putting you right in her shoes.
Quick Tip: The harsh consonant sounds in words like "rot" and "spit" mirror the struggle she's describing - this is called sound symbolism!
