Memory of Poland

wagon,

tumbling over cobblestone.

our future’s so solid that gray looks warm.

 

— dzień dobry —

gray sky spits on the ground.

my grandmother’s grandfather is here in the dirt.

 

red,

an ink spot that shouldn’t be,

spilled on a notebook, smudging the words until

 

mały blondyn

learned English so that he could say

“hello cousin.” and i understood “hello cousin.”

 

familiarity

sits inside the red wagon

even though familiarity makes me feel guilt.

 

“the”

is a word she doesn’t say

because her language never taught her that.

 

cemetery,

we see dead grandfathers.

whispers of history come at us from a tombstone.

 

no words remain,

only cicha pamięć to mourn.

we tumble forward with a future in our hands.

 

— przepraszam —

said little blond as i held his hand.

my grandmother swept at a tear and looked at the sky.

 

pamięć,

like an unfamiliar tooth.

rust-red,

 

like a wagon in a cemetery.

unknown,

like her father who is a smudge.


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