dank dem Herrn mit frohen mothers
served adults first
and then us kjinga
got to eat at big table while
men
sat
in the grotta stove
weinacht wunches followed
all the children clutching memory verses
in sweaty palm of the brain
one by one
stand and deliver oldest
to
me
kissing oma and opa after
and then we got too large
for the stately white housebarn in Reinland
and moved to simulated wood panelled church
basement
moving down after Christmas Friedensfuerst in pewed
sanctuary
Mr. Falk singing before
head tilted always it seemed
grandchildren got gifts but the
motherlode
waited at home
unwrapped but un-played-with
waiting always for the program
and singing
and games
and halvah
and coke
and Frank
Zack puzzles
to be done with
and then home through snowy roads
german poems still careening wildly in cranium
with the good news
