It's my great-grandfather
Rebbe Chaim Elya
in jacket and bow tie
his hat suggests
a Turkish fez his lips
a pale line hardly showing
between his moustache
and his rich black beard

He faces me
gazing with steady eyes
across the little space we share
here in my room
and the much wider space
that separates
the lives we've led
the worlds we've known
his portrait leans against the wall
and in his gaze
I see a kindly questioning
concern
for the condition
of my soul

Few of us get to know
our great-grandparents
in childhood I was blessed
by what they left
behind them
these two gentle folk
two old world jews
Chaim Elya and Chaya Sarah
a gift of spirit that shone in the eyes
of their third daughter
my beloved grandma Emma
whose love like summer sun
was unconditional
and warmed me
to the marrow of my bones