gatherings of memory

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