Veechnaya Pamyat

Sonja Dunn
From:   Uncivilizing. Insomniac Press, 1997.

Veechnaya Pamyat
(Eternal Memory)

To young at five
to know
my mother's eyes
were forever shuttered.

Lone pine coffin
in the hollow room
a vague memory now,
picked up
by six strong men
and carried across
the highwayv to St. Teresa's church.

No hearse
no cars
only a poor procession
Ukrainian immigrants
chanting
"Veechnaya Pamyat"
the eternal memory dirge.

Poem 1 | Poem 2 | Poem 3 | Poem 4 | Poem 5 | Poem 6

Sonja Dunn's works copyright © to the author.