You say my last name as if it’s a GRE vocab word.

I watch your syllabic rehearsal over and over again as you commit it to memory. You study it furiously, parsing it in judgmental observation, the phonemes exiting your mouth with the vigor of a virulent spit take. You ask me to praise you for your pronunciation because, as you name, it’s impossibly difficult to say with a civilized mouth, but only a Master of language would dare to try. It’s not one to stick in the brain, but she’s a beaut! a platitude you muster up in what you think is earnest. Perhaps you can use it in a sentence? I smile in a way only a brown girl knows how to, desire coating my lips in the way I wish abhorrence could. I laud you for an attempt as I know you’re bound for a perfect score, the sanctity of who I am remaining in my own mouth. 

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Nisha Srinivasa is a poet, educator, and speaker living in Oakland, California. A current instructional coach with the San Francisco Unified School District, Nisha holds a Bachelor’s of French and a minor in linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a Master’s in Human Development and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has authored a number of research publications for the California Department of Education, the UC Berkeley Human Rights Center, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Not only has she had extensive experience in the education and academic space, but she is also very active in the Bay Area writing community. She has been a contributor to Brown Girl Magazine, attended multiple literary events such as book talks and writing conferences, and seeks feedback on her written work from writing groups and book clubs.