Unser Volk

I wonder what fields your great grandmother ran through as a young girl
Her light hair wild like the flowers she stood in,
Her smile bright like the red of her skirt.

I wonder which woods my great grandfather hid in as a young man
White and red from the cold, and Reds and Whites behind his back
His smile the only clue to his well-hidden secret.

I wonder what tree stump your great grandmother sat on as a young woman
Staring beyond the soot gray lake, swallowing hot tears
Her heart frozen like the land her lover walked in, dragging his chains.

I wonder what lands my grandfather galloped through as a young man
Lungs bursting with song and life,
His thick locks blowing, flowing in the wind of change.

I imagine the open plains my father slept on as a young boy
On his back, counting the stars in the night sky
As black as his future, black plains as empty as he was inside.

***