Immigrants' Return
Lucia Cherciu Like a gate in Maramureş, faith welcomes us home as we are. Some complain that the new houses look like kitsch palaces, don’t fit with the music of old churches carved out of an oak tree. White porches stand blighted by scaffoldings for the mansions rising overnight. Following medieval princes descending with cavalcades of horses, we return and listen to glinting steeples. At wells with columns balancing the moon, we return night after night. Some of us are poorer than when we left. Some of us retrace our steps in disguised shame. Some of our children speak a broken language. Some of us see shadows near fences, silhouettes dissolving in the sunset. |
About the author:
Lucia Cherciu was born in Romania. She teaches English at SUNY/ Dutchess in Poughkeepsie, NY and is the author of Edible Flowers (Main Street Rag, 2015), Lepădarea de Limbă (Editura Vinea, 2009), and Altoiul Râsului (Editura Brumar, 2010). Her poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and for Best of the Net. Photo Credits: Karl Barth |