My grandfather Moritz, a barber, was
Married to Gazela
When he was 21 and she was 18.
They said goodbye forever to their shtetl in Romania
And traveled
Through Austria-Hungary to Germany
And then England
Talking with other Jews well met on the road, having
Just enough money in their purse to buy
Steerage tickets in Liverpool on the U.S.S. Lake Champlain.
On New Year’s Eve 1900 they landed in America
Along with a shipload of other European peasants all
Wrapped in shawls and woolen coats
Carrying babies and whatever.
A panoply of hand to mouth people
With issues.