Galicja, 1915 [Poem]
Nov. 11th, 2016 10:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
roesslyngTitle: Galicja, 1915
Rating: 0+
Length: 5 lines + Endnotes
Summary: The region of Galicia in southeastern Poland was a site of heavy conflict between the Russians and the Central Powers during the First World War.
Other: My grandmother said very little about the war, but it was enough for a poem.
Galicja, 1915
In memory of K. Z. (1909-2007)
Hide in the fields, she whispered.
They're coming.
Boots marched through your village.
You slipped, ghost-like, through the grain
clutching your sister's hand.
My grandmother was a child during the First World War. She didn't talk about it much. She didn't talk about living in Poland much at all. To me, it seems that after coming to Canada in 1930, she wanted everything that she left behind to stay there.
She was born in a region called Galicja, in Poland. It is now part of Ukraine; the Ukrainian name for the region is Halychyna. This area saw heavy fighting during the First war. The Second war was even more devastating to the region. She was fortunate to leave Poland when she did. The relatives she left behind probably did not survive.
"We had to hide in the fields from the Russians". That is one of the few things she said about the war.
Part of me wishes that I had asked about it. But it's probably for the better that I didn't.
Rating: 0+
Length: 5 lines + Endnotes
Summary: The region of Galicia in southeastern Poland was a site of heavy conflict between the Russians and the Central Powers during the First World War.
Other: My grandmother said very little about the war, but it was enough for a poem.
Galicja, 1915
In memory of K. Z. (1909-2007)
Hide in the fields, she whispered.
They're coming.
Boots marched through your village.
You slipped, ghost-like, through the grain
clutching your sister's hand.
My grandmother was a child during the First World War. She didn't talk about it much. She didn't talk about living in Poland much at all. To me, it seems that after coming to Canada in 1930, she wanted everything that she left behind to stay there.
She was born in a region called Galicja, in Poland. It is now part of Ukraine; the Ukrainian name for the region is Halychyna. This area saw heavy fighting during the First war. The Second war was even more devastating to the region. She was fortunate to leave Poland when she did. The relatives she left behind probably did not survive.
"We had to hide in the fields from the Russians". That is one of the few things she said about the war.
Part of me wishes that I had asked about it. But it's probably for the better that I didn't.
no subject
Date: 2016-11-13 09:14 am (UTC)(Also, wow, your family must have very long generations. Although actually ... *quick mental calculation* the Mr.'s grandfather fought in WWI and he's about 10 years older than you, so it's about the same. He was born pretty late in his parents' lives though, and so was his dad. This combined with the fact that he was raised in a pretty conservative culture have given him some unusual experiences for someone his age. It is a running joke in our household that he will say "When I was a kid--" and I will fill in "In the 1930s--"
But I'm rambling now.)
no subject
Date: 2016-11-14 05:20 am (UTC)(It's actually not that long - because this is actually my great-grandmother; I've always used the same name for her and my actual grandmother. xD So... long generations, yes, but not THAT long.)