Дедушка- Grandfather
I could remember the tanned skin covered by white strands of hair
The smile you’ve given me when you spoke out with your wisdom
The multiple languages you’ve learned and the “thank you” in those ten,
Asking my brothers and I to read you National Geographic or Smithsonian
And when fallen ill and could not move, the refusal that we both showed
That there is nothing that would going to split us apart.
The impatience we expressed with the doctors,
The hospital beds-starch white and wires connecting
The month in rehab followed by the return to our home
Hope’s high like the squeaks that followed the wheelchair.
The shock, the call, the blinking and blinding lights,
All ended with you in the coffin, surrounded by wet eyes and trembling lips
Flowers, red, yellow, pink, white, blue raining down from our hands
And the songs we sang in minor key, all hoping its just a nightmare
We shall not forget the love we had to each other,
And the laughs and the hugs and the purrs from Asya.
D.C. still stands, but seems hollow. Apartment waiting to be once again filled,
By the spices of the Indian or Russian meals, and laughter and music filled the halls
But I will always remembered how I was
Your only granddaughter.