nowadays

I  cannot count the times I have scratched this from essays
by Koreans and Chinese
Kuwaitis and  Saudis
an occasional Brazilian

nowadays is the um of adverbs
and so condemned to fill the awkward pause of second language time

it's not fault but ubiquity
that irks

in this tongue we like to hedge as we imply
leave a little wiggle room
to forget the present
ignore time for signs
of
something
not
quite


here