Für die kinder my great grandmother
must have also said,her soft arms swaying
as she waved me to the table,
cajoling me to eat, eat,
and I gave in, despite my calorie-counting
ways as she set before me heaping bowls
of ice cream,a little melon.
She piled my plate and watched
as I ate in her eager, alien way,
the powdered smell
of her florid skin holding sway.
Conversation was limited
by language and my lack of interest,
as I adopted my grandfather’s disdain.
I saw her on my yearly visits
to family in the east – her Yiddish
grating to my ear, these unwelcome
feasts. Now I wonder
what her life must have been
to cast that hungry look my way.
*Inspired by the poem Für die kinder by Alan Walowitz