I lost my country
a half-century ago.  

Mom whisked me away
from my Papa and my friend Kasia.

We left on a train,
crossed the sea on a boat.

Welcomed to a new land by strangers
who were my grandma and uncle.

A land of hot blistering sun,
a large beach littered with trash.
sand blowing through cracks in the walls
and into my pockets.
Strange sounds I didn’t understand

We only stayed a short time
then crossed the ocean on a plane
for the promised land of America.

Once again
we were immigrants,
different,
misunderstood,
learning to fit in
to a strange place
and unfamiliar language.

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