Today is my birthday May 22, 2020
And my parents come to visit
Sitting on the couch after arriving from the dead
They whisper with each other
In Polish that I can almost understand
And they ask questions
“Are you careful to hide from the virus?”
And they tell me a story I know well
The story of the rabbi and his wife (my father’s cousins)
How they hid in a farmer’s attic
For four years to escape the Nazis
So they ask, “Do you think you can hide for four years?
For four months? Can you hide in the closet
For even four hours?”
And then they bring up my aunt’s feats of survival
“Can you slide through the sewers to flee?
The way your aunt Zosia fled the Warsaw Ghetto?
Can you even wash your hands properly?
Do you know how to wear a mask?”
It’s so wonderful to hear them, to feel their concern
How they nag me to steer clear of Death
Tell me that I need courage and luck
And how I must work for both
To hide from the virus
I thank my parents and assure them that I will do all that I can
To get to my next birthday
To live to see Trump driven from the White House
To watch my grandchildren graduate and marry
All the typical joys of home and family
To survive the planet’s growing rage
To forage for enough food to live
And to keep a simple sense of justice
Check back with me May 22, 2021
To see if luck and courage brings me here again
Beautiful.Touching. True.
Posted by: Allison V Fine | May 23, 2020 at 06:25 PM
I can relate to this "birthday" poem...I too have my birthday on May 22 ( haven't found many others that share this date). And my parents, recently passed, were of the old world. They often spoke in german/yiddish that i could almost understand, as you write. That generation of the old world was known as survivors of ills perpetuated by evil. Now I face another threat...the virus... They would worry, yes.
i can hear the same concern as your parents. Ane, yes, I expect to make it to May 22, 2021!
thank you for this.
Posted by: [email protected] | May 30, 2020 at 04:31 PM
A beautiful poem, Hilton! Next year we'll party! xxx Bill Z.
Posted by: Bill Zavatsky | May 31, 2020 at 06:08 PM