Klobasu becomes kolbasi,
prilohy becomes pirogi,
ja vas lubim becomes –
what? – pure love?
Your name
was the first thing
to change: perhaps the new one
was given to you
at Ellis Island, by a man
whom you had never seen
before, would never
see again.
I want to give you back
your name. I want
to go out into the fields
and call to your innocence
among the cows, among
the clouds: Andrej! Andrej!
Susan Casey
Seattle
