Autobiographical Poem

Love.

Those dinners at Grandma’s where the family all gathers
To eat some Polish dish, which all somehow contain the same ingredients:
Meat, cheese, and potatoes
We laugh away our worries, we laugh away our doubts
Mainly, we just laugh at one another
Like how Grandma sneaks out for a smoke, claiming the dog has to pee
Or how loud my dad is snoring, though
later he’ll claim he never fell asleep
It’s the laughter, the sarcasm, the feeling of home
That makes me never want to grow up, never want to forget all the special moments
Never to forget those not so significant moments
Like seeing my parents wash the dishes together,
as my dad leans in to kiss her cheek
Like watching my brother and dad work on the car,
the smell of oil and grease in the air
I am in such a hurry to grow up and make a life for myself
As kids, we spend our time trying to be older than we really are
And then once we grow up, we spend our lives yearning for childhood
Life comes at us fast
Father is out of a job, mother leaves for work at 4am
The nation is at war, brother joins the military to do his part
Father has cancer, the fear overtakes us all
Prayer is mother’s answer for everything
Family is the most important thing in all our minds
Despite any obstacle, despite life’s obligations
Love keeps us together, keeps us moving forward
I will always be the baby, always kiss my parents goodnight
Because that is how I deal with things, I keep my family close and tight.