Hope Sneddon reading ‘Only Other’

Coming and going are not different sides of the same coin.
It’s a trick.
There are no sides, only other.

Wie isch iri Name?
Hope, wie die Hoffnung.
Was für ini Name isch de den?
My name is wrong here,
and with each new introduction the performance of this conversation
is harmonized and stamped into a rhythmic chant that rings out
Ausländerin, Ausländerin, Ausländerin.

Coming home
there are no sides, only other.
“Que tu queres tomar?” I yell across the café to my husband.
forgetting where I am.
I will myself to use English more.
I am home, after all.
Yet, I cannot help but feel
Fremd.
The other Australians see it.
Smell it.
It has been a long time since I was one of them.
Ich bin gedeutscht.
But not just that.
Jein, talves etwas mais.
Farofa is sprinkled on my tongue.
Agauchada, tambem?

Where are you from?
Australia.
No, where are you really from?

They have caught me out.
Sono una bugiarda.

I imagined returning home would feel like a warm embrace.
After years of saudade and Einsamkeit.
Endlich,
Eu achei que,
Ho arrivato. Ma,
Always a foreigner, no matter the time.

So we try to speak unsere língua mistura só em casa.
But habit and a lazy tongue mean we can forget where we are.
Codes switched wrong.
Wrong switched codes.
Switched. Codes wrong.
One foot in Brazil, one foot in Switzerland.
My left hand in Austria, my right in Italy.
And my heart in my chest, to keep home with me.
Where there are no sides,
only other.

Translation and pronunciation guide

Translation and pronunciation guide (opens in a new page).

Hope Lee Sneddon has tertiary qualifications from Australia and Switzerland. She is currently working on her PhD at RMIT. She draws inspiration from her international experiences as well as her music background to write and create songs, stories, and poetry.