LatinosUSA

Over the years 
I have seen this word
written here and there, 
lying in wait;
waiting for me: 
          Sangfroid.
I thought it was a German word, 
and imagined Marlene Dietrich, 
astride a chair, eyes veiled;
alluring, exotic, perhaps dangerous.
The epitome of my imagined meaning 
of that tantalizing word. 
Then, I remembered an evocative scene 
from Judgment at Nuremberg:
the actress was singing 
in that singular voice, 
in her native Germanic tongue, 
          Lili Marleen…
…the song conjured to mind
another world, a different time; 
of wars, deaths, loves, dreams, fears. 
Finally, wondering, I checked 
the origin and meaning 
of the word that had 
aroused a keen interest in me: 
          SANGFROID. 
I discovered to my surprise
it comes from the French. 
Calm, composed, cold-blooded. 
          Sang-froid! 
It also has Latin roots:
Sanguis (blood); 
Frigidus (cold). 
The word embodies Marlene Dietrich,
the actress, the singer, the woman;
and the image, and that character, 
she so faithfully and famously portrayed. 
          Singing her songs in such haunting refrains;
          Forever timeless, with ice in her veins. 

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