I am very angry for a lot of reasons all the time. And sad. Anyway. I'm Ashkenazi Jewish and Irish and probably other stuff both those are the ones I know, and the only "culture" I grew up with was non-practicing Judaism. Also please stop comparing genocides, it's not a good look.
I talk about Yiddish like it could have been mine
and I just grasped
it with my fingers
before the feet stepped off
the boat into new land
shaking off the dust of Romanian mountains,
of the pogroms
and
I talk about Yiddish like it doesn’t make
me want to cry that my grandmother’s parents
lost their religion on purpose
dug through the attic of their ancestors,
found nothing of note,
closed the door
and refused
to be buried next to the mock
graves of relatives
now only dust
in fields across the Atlantic
and I don’t know where this cemetery is except
that New York is a good enough homeland for me
my friend talks about the difference
between the Holocaust and the potato famine
and I know, that people want their suffering
compared, examined, turned over, bled dry
my ancestors lived in the peat and green too,
the rain and wet, the ground, the blight
but I know
and I know because I only feel the echoes of one,
sitting in a hotel across from Auschwitz I trying
very hard not to breath, not to make a sound
and I know in the way one side of my family
is from the other
do not talk to me about generational trauma, I do not know it
as the children of survivors do
but do not talk to me about generational trauma because
I learned in class that
years ago America could have saved the lives of my ancestors
on the Mountain of my grandmother’s stories
and they simply refused,
and now, as a result, the step before the fall, the punchline of the joke:
those people are dead
Footnotes
The Romanian Government attempted to ransom thousands of Jews to the US during WWII, saying that if the US gave them money, they wouldn't hand the Jews over to the Nazis.
alright, one more reason to say fuck american and praise your writing. wow. this is like nothing i've ever read before. "talk about Yiddish like it could have been mine / and I just grasped / it with my fingers / before the feet stepped off / the boat into new land", "years ago America could have saved the lives of my ancestors / on the Mountain of my grandmother’s stories"
as someone who's also ashkenazi jewish, i could really feel the pain and anger radiating from your piece. the rhythm of the writing in this poem conveyed that really strongly! some favorite lines: "and I don't know where this cemetery is / except New York is a good enough homeland for me", "do not talk to me about generational trauma, I do not know it / as the children of survivors do".
I love the rhythm in this piece. It really makes me feel your anger (if that's even close to the right word, but I can't find a better one right now) about losing what could have been your heritage. I love this so very much
4 Comments
Norah
@anha thank you thank you so much! I love when people love the writing I care about that comes from my soul
Anha
alright, one more reason to say fuck american and praise your writing. wow. this is like nothing i've ever read before. "talk about Yiddish like it could have been mine / and I just grasped / it with my fingers / before the feet stepped off / the boat into new land", "years ago America could have saved the lives of my ancestors / on the Mountain of my grandmother’s stories"
you're an icon in the best sense of the word.
efflorescence
as someone who's also ashkenazi jewish, i could really feel the pain and anger radiating from your piece. the rhythm of the writing in this poem conveyed that really strongly! some favorite lines: "and I don't know where this cemetery is / except New York is a good enough homeland for me", "do not talk to me about generational trauma, I do not know it / as the children of survivors do".
WishfulKittyKat1
I love the rhythm in this piece. It really makes me feel your anger (if that's even close to the right word, but I can't find a better one right now) about losing what could have been your heritage. I love this so very much