Lingua Inglese
It wasn’t a planned or a pre-destined course,
But brought on by conquest and culture and chance.
So half of the ears of the world are in reach,
And so many throats are alive to the word.
They flock to our phonemes that stream from our source,
Our syllables speak and their speakers advance –
For held on our tongues is the honey they teach,
That calls to the world and will always be heard.
But just as it rises, so shall this same force
Then favour another to make their tongues dance.
Our moment must pass – then our ripening peach
Shall sour their lips, with its stones spat and slurred.
Yet now all is golden, yet now they endorse
For all of its failings and spellings askance.
So use it and wisely and sweetly in speech,
For as long as its fluke is the fluke that’s preferred.
Rhyming Couplets 
I like the title, very interesting choice given the subject of the poem. How did you come to that decision?
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(the poem itself is lovely too!)
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It’s just an expression I’ve always loved. I’m afraid several of my titles are such phrases which exist independently, waiting to be attached to a poem that’s vaguely appropriate. At other times, the titles are often the last part to be written and end up as placeholders that I never get round to changing.
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It’s Italian for “English language” though, right?
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It is indeed, but I was meaning for it to be a twist on the expression ‘lingua franca’, “A language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different” (OED).
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