POETRY |
I am the one who left New York - Weebly.com
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I am from a family sharing an apartment:
grandparents, parents, an aunt and uncle, an adult cousin, and me--the baby-- whose first word was “Ma,” delighting my mother for a moment until she saw that I was pointing at the box of matzoh. I am the child who grew up with Polish and Yiddish around me, interspersed with English for me, who was surprised when someone said, “I like your mother’s accent” because I couldn’t hear it. I am the one who left New York over 60 years ago yet, when people hear me speak they often say, “Are you from New York?” I’m glad I still talk that way. I am the person who overhears Yiddish and is comforted by the cadence that brings me back to extended family and the New Yorkers sitting on slatted wooden park benches, as I skipped by on the way to the playground where there was no tanbark or rubber, but only hard concrete when you fell. I am from a family that never spoke about the past because they struggled to forget the pain yet they built a life for me full of smiles. |
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Since age six, Vivian Imperiale has been writing poetry to identify and process her emotions about the world around her. She soon learned that her poems could be meaningful to others. A friend touched her with these words, "You gave me words for an emotion I didn't even know I needed to express."
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Vistas & Byways Review is the semiannual journal of fiction, nonfiction and poetry by members of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at San Francisco State University.
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Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at San Francisco State University (OLLI at SF State) provides communal and material support to theVistas & Byways volunteer staff.
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