Borrowed Sound

The word 'water'

felt like a small pebble

in my mouth today,

trying to make it smooth.

The 'r' gone, or almost.

She asked where I was

'really' from,

a small smile on her face

like a dare.

And I heard the shift,

the slight tightening

in my throat,

a careful shaping

of consonants.

It's like a muscle now,

this adjustment,

an old jacket

that doesn't quite fit,

but I pull it on anyway.

Sometimes, at home,

a word catches,

clunky,

and I wonder whose voice

I'm borrowing,

and for how long.