Yiddish
with its typical directness
(the guy's a crazy shmuck, a real meshuggener!)
reminds us how it takes a push
to get things started
yeder onheib iz shver - every beginning
is tough
a comment on the world at large
but more precisely
on shtetl life
the lost world that my grandparents
came out of
now our new granddaughter
at ten days old
her chest cut open
the tiny heart repaired
would seem to be proof
of the proverb
yet here she is
at just eight weeks
waving her arms
making contented baby sounds
and smiling
as if all things were perfectly arranged
for her delight
which is precisely what her parents
and we her grandparents
not to mention her amazing doctors
and NICU nurses
have been working to achieve
these past eight weeks
and yes it's not been easy
yet the time has passed
as if no time at all
and so to introduce her
to my grandparents
long since deceased
but quite alive in me
I say that she's a wonder
and a beauty
with captivating eyes
a sheyne meydele