Strangers

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What does a deli vendor talk about on the phone when he wraps me up a bagel with cream cheese?
Guys from delis are always on their phones.
I imagine faraway voices from countries where they lived with their brothers.
But also,
he might be discussing what’s for dinner with his mother.
She is about to prepare it in a small kitchen somewhere in Brooklyn Heights.
Children are hanging out, making noise—is that why he is freaking out?
Never-ending talk—what is it about?
What subject do they discuss at 1:00 a.m. Eastern Time?
“How can I help you?” Sounds of English instead of an Arabic reply
to the person on the other side of the counter. Now he is talking to me.
I can’t forget the boy who served me a vanilla chai at an all-night café.
There was no music there.
I was listening to his phone-talk for an hour. Was it Bengali?
Every sip brought me closer to understanding, but now I remember nothing.
The policeman who was sitting next to me was watching a police show. He didn’t wear headphones, yet I couldn’t understand.
So, I have a couple of questions:
How do they spend their free time?
What makes them feel sublime?
Do they often walk in Union Square?
Do they like the smell of NYC air?
Please let me know.
In New York, I mostly speak Ukrainian.
Rozmovlajuh po ukrainski.
Can anyone understand me?
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Portrait of Natalia WislockaNatalia Wislocka is 29 years old. She was born and raised in Poland. Because of her roots, she often traveled to Ukraine. She moved to New York City in 2018.  She studies at the Adult Learning Center of CUNY’s New York City College of Technology, where Martie Flores is her teacher.