Just Some Last Thoughts | Teen Ink

Just Some Last Thoughts MAG

January 16, 2010
By NineMuses PLATINUM, Pelham, New York
NineMuses PLATINUM, Pelham, New York
22 articles 2 photos 10 comments

Favorite Quote:
You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
-Jack London


Thirty-two dusty flowers
three old cassette tapes
a dozen four-leaf clovers
one tragic memoir
and a smattering of faded photographs
stand tribute to you.
I stare fixedly
trying to see
past the earth
I helped to shovel.
I struggle to imagine
those random articles,
the remains
of your cut-off life,
reflecting you.
Yet again
I wonder
how those haphazard items
connect to the person I knew.
The man
who taught me old Yiddish songs
way off-key
who made fries
out of apples
and could spin a story
on the spot.
I wonder
how you
who always found a smile
could have had
such an awful life
for so many years back then.
And what could
those old photos say
about you?
You, who loved the spotlight
but scorned cameras.
I cannot connect the pieces.
I suppose
to me
you will always be two people:
The man who survived
the Holocaust
and struggled to find
the gold-paved roads
promised to him.
And my pop-pop.
I can see your old
worn-felt hat
and taste
your cinnamon toast
on my tongue
even now.
I place a pebble
on your headstone
and hurry away
so you won't see me cry.
Off you go now.
I hope angels
have an ear
for off-key Yiddish.


The author's comments:
I wrote this poem on the anniversary of my grandfather's death, several years after he died. Everything here is true, except for maybe the exact numbers of the items listed at the beginning. Likzor. Ahl tishkach. Remember. Never forget.

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This article has 5 comments.


JRaye PLATINUM said...
on Jul. 11 2014 at 12:16 pm
JRaye PLATINUM, Dorr, Michigan
43 articles 10 photos 523 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you build your house far enough away from Trouble, then Trouble will never find you."

"Have you ever looked fear in the face and said, 'I just don't care.'?"

Absolutely, positively beautiful. This is an amazing poem, I don't even have the words... One of my favorite lines is, "I stare fixedly trying to see past the the earth I helped shovel". :) Your grandfather would be be so, SO proud!

Mckay ELITE said...
on Jul. 10 2014 at 3:28 pm
Mckay ELITE, Somewhere, Virginia
146 articles 0 photos 2230 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do."
—Apple’s “Think Different” commercial, 1997
“Crazy people are considered mad by the rest of the society only because their intelligence isn't understood.”
― Weihui Zhou

I enjoyed reading this piece: it was perfectly written with the right amount of emotion. The last lines were touching. 

caedanse said...
on Apr. 1 2011 at 1:11 am
Your grandfather should be proud to have a grandchild like you. This is beautifully written. RIP.

on Feb. 28 2011 at 7:19 pm
UglyMushroom GOLD, Columbus, Ohio
11 articles 65 photos 202 comments

Favorite Quote:
"It's a monday. I got nothin' goin' on..." ~O. Rogers

Wow! this is beautiful.

on Feb. 28 2011 at 12:54 pm
queentabbiecat99 GOLD, Dardanelle, Arkansas
15 articles 0 photos 48 comments

Favorite Quote:
Things aren't always what they seem.

aww sad :( and so cool