I almost dreamed in Polish

I almost dreamed in Polish on Wednesday, but I don’t think it counts. It was during a short nap, drzemka krótka, and it didn’t involve the spoken word but the written. Having memorized the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary, I’ve been working on The Creed and Mass responses. I read my missal and Zagajewski’s poetry on the banks of the Wisła under the summery noonday sun, pod słoncem. Then I walk along the river and recite to myself before returning to my mieszkanie for a short nap and then work online. And there it was, printed and instantaneously understood in my subconscious mind’s eye, zmiłuj się nad nami, “have mercy on us.” (Hear, hear! But I digress.) Curious that I seem most fluent to myself in those subliminal moments moving in and out of sleep, somewhere just behind the filter of consciousness—and grammatical inhibition. Who knows whether I am, actually, fluent, whether or not my subconscious mind spelled zmiłuj correctly? But I’m getting there, even if, at the moment, I’m most Polish when falling asleep.