Your Favorite Poems

Hollylane · 08-06-2012, 08:17 PM

French Lesson

by Rosemary Okun

I wanted to know
the language of my ancestors
I wanted to know what they said
when they made love
and when they spoke to the neighbors
I wanted to know how
they spoke to their children
and what my great-great-grandfather said
when he stubbed his toe

But ancestry is who your mother was
and mine came from Brooklyn
with a grandmother from Syracuse
who said Glory be to God
when someone dropped a cup
and Bless me Father
when she confessed

My ancestors went by shanks mare
and shouted give him the hook
if they were displeased
They ate apple pie and
their potatoes were Idahos

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08-06-2012, 08:17 PM	#11
Hollylane Practically Lives Here How Do You Identify?: . Preferred Pronoun?: . Relationship Status: . Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: . Posts: 11,495 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 34,694 Thanked 26,362 Times in 5,875 Posts Rep Power: 21474862	French Lesson by Rosemary Okun I wanted to know the language of my ancestors I wanted to know what they said when they made love and when they spoke to the neighbors I wanted to know how they spoke to their children and what my great-great-grandfather said when he stubbed his toe But ancestry is who your mother was and mine came from Brooklyn with a grandmother from Syracuse who said Glory be to God when someone dropped a cup and Bless me Father when she confessed My ancestors went by shanks mare and shouted give him the hook if they were displeased They ate apple pie and their potatoes were Idahos