Naming the Children - Steve Orlen

[Larry Robinson]

Naming the Children
 
He remembers good night and good morning
He remembers my wife, Gail, which is the wind,
Who sits beside him, stroking his thin right hand.
 
From the back of the car through the neighborhoods
He recites the names of his children
In Russian, Hebrew and English. The names squeeze through
 
The damaged arteries, past the house in Odessa
Over the remarkable ocean to New York.
Mischa will be Morris. Hodya will be Ida.
 
Ten years later my mother, Beatrice Florence,
Stares into polished stone. At last
She sees herself, nee Bryna Fagel, beautiful bird.
 
Which is how it is in America,
Over the graves of our parents, how we are named.
 
	- Steve Orlen
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sonic.net/pipermail/poetrylovers/attachments/20170628/f2258fd1/attachment.html>