Algebra, for starters— whose origins go
back to ancient Babylon. It's still used for
calculating basic numbers, management and financial
data. Democracy itself— origin, Greek dēmokratia:
exercise of government by the people, of the people,
for the people. My (always eloquent) sister-in-law
got placed in ESL class when she got here, not even
having the benefit of assessment. Fluency
is the ability to read and speak with accuracy, trade
jokes and puns, correctly place an Oxford comma.
Kleptocracy is another word borrowed from not-English:
literally, it means the rule of thieves. Klepto-
mania bends the laws so the poor are punished, while
nincompoop billionaires snicker. Oval, from
ovum and ovalis, as in the Oval Office— where much
posturing happens these days. Fellow peons, let's be
quick to praise the beautiful work of our hands, the
riches loaned by so many beautiful tongues. Let's
sabotage the spiel that madmen know better
than scientists and scholars. How did we wind up so
unbelieving, undone yet on the shores of further undoing?
Vaccines, conservation, diversity, inclusion. Who's in your
wallet, that's trying to scrub these or make them go away?
Xerox your sensitive information, guard it from the
yes-man, pelotero, ball-kisser, duckmäuser—
Zasa, said the assassin before he shot the mobster. Zasa. Zasa.