Saturday, July 23, 2011

slavic shoes




my great grandfather
wore slavic shoes
he brought them from
the old country along with a slavic name
and a slavic wife

they were known
as Joseph and Mary surname
ending in (wicz)
they had five children
they wore american shoes - shoes
they shared, shoes that
knew walking and working
one child was named Joseph his
name ending in (vich) -

he married Grace
she made Joe leave his shoes
on the porch, wash his
hands and go to mass on Sundays
she sat in the back
seat of the car, wore her
Sunday shoes,  and
she wore her
babushka

Joseph was my
grandfather - gave me a maiden
name no one could pronounce
correctly - so i was
set on changing it first chance -
as a grandfather
he walked a lot, laughed
a lot and when Grace was dying
he got drunk and cried

yet, he passed down
a name and a pair of
shoes i could never
walk in - they were too big for me
like his slavic heart

bkmackenzie
copyrighted 2011

The church is St. Peter and Paul in Gilman MN - my grandfather helped to construct this church as well as all the parishioners - all my Slavic ancestors are buried there bearing two different versions of name - binding the old world to the new..


Posted by at
Labels: ,

28 comments:

  1. Brian MillerJuly 23, 2011 at 4:31 PM

    like his heart...what an endearing closing line...love the jaunt through your history...name changes and different shoes along...nice bk

    ReplyDelete
  2. MaryJuly 23, 2011 at 5:06 PM

    What a beautiful poem, BKM. I love the poignant ending... Some shoes are hard to fill. I am sure your grandfather's were!

    ReplyDelete
  3. hedgewitchJuly 23, 2011 at 5:11 PM

    Glad you still carry, and can share, those memories. My grandfather was named Ragnar, and my grandmother also wore a babushka, though she learned that word from our Polish neighbors, I think. They are my tie to an older world, where shoes had to last a very long time indeed.

    Beautiful legacy to leave, that church. And your poem/their memories.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJuly 23, 2011 at 5:20 PM

    Your poem is a moving legacy to the memory of all those who had to walk before you so that you could make your own journey. It spoke to me of the way I have tried to fill other's shoes, even when ill-fitted. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. TashtooJuly 23, 2011 at 5:38 PM

    Oh my soul! What a finish! This week saw me laying my grandfather to rest, so there has been much talk of fitting shoes and legacies. This is so amazingly fitting for where I REALLY am right now. Call it divine intervention...but thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJuly 23, 2011 at 7:22 PM

    What a beautiful poem - you brought tears to my eyes. I can see your grandfather - I imagine him as a person who lived life with a "big shoe"

    ReplyDelete
  7. ScarletJuly 23, 2011 at 7:26 PM

    I like the family history...very interesting.

    perhaps you might want to edit:
    walk in - they were *too* big for me

    this is a nice tribute to his legacy ...

    ReplyDelete
  8. SemaphoreJuly 23, 2011 at 7:36 PM

    I admire what you did with the shoes theme, turning it into a metaphor for the journey of generations.

    ReplyDelete
  9. signed...bkmJuly 23, 2011 at 7:51 PM

    thanks everyone for comments and thanks much Heaven for the too and to....it is one of my biggest or biggest writing error...I can not seem to make it stick in this brain....bkm

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousJuly 23, 2011 at 8:37 PM

    Lovely poem and a touching tribute. Also, an absolutely gorgeous church that your grandfather helped to build.

    David

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousJuly 23, 2011 at 9:02 PM

    Thanks for the story of your heritage. Any regrets about changing your name(assuming you did)?

    ReplyDelete
  12. UnknownJuly 23, 2011 at 9:07 PM

    Your ending is just plain beautiful and touching. Our lives are so far removed, sometimes, from where we truly come from. Lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  13. UnknownJuly 23, 2011 at 9:28 PM

    The final close is so touching I felt it ring in my heart. I quite enjoyed the harmony of this piece, lovey write ~ Rose

    ReplyDelete
  14. signed...bkmJuly 23, 2011 at 9:45 PM

    I only changed my last name through marriage...but the (k) in bkm is for my maiden name...it is a tribute to this heritage...bkm

    ReplyDelete
  15. BeachannyJuly 23, 2011 at 10:14 PM

    So poignant but sans anything saccharine. Those shoes held a man that rose high in stature and left his mark in stone. Well said, excellent.
    Gay

    ReplyDelete
  16. JinksyJuly 24, 2011 at 12:13 AM

    Interesting walk through family history...

    ReplyDelete
  17. The UnknowngnomeJuly 24, 2011 at 12:21 AM

    It's nice learning a bit more about your heritage. Thanks for sharing it.

    ReplyDelete
  18. AnonymousJuly 24, 2011 at 4:57 AM

    This poem reminds me fo the shopes we walk in, the shoes of those before us and how much we owe them. Lovely poem, B.K.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Kerry O'ConnorJuly 24, 2011 at 5:38 AM

    This is just an amazing poem... gave me goosebumps by the time I got to the end. What a testimony to family ties.

    ReplyDelete
  20. annell4July 24, 2011 at 5:57 AM

    I love this!

    ReplyDelete
  21. annell4July 24, 2011 at 6:00 AM

    My Grandgrand parents were also named Mary and Joseph. Joseph was Irish and my Greatgrand Mother, Mary was German. Family ties are tangled weavings. Your write is so amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  22. AnonymousJuly 24, 2011 at 6:02 AM

    What a story teller you are. The poem engaged from the beginning until the end. I think Grandfather would be pleased.

    ReplyDelete
  23. BrendanJuly 24, 2011 at 8:41 AM

    Fine bit of family history -- the history of its heart as expressed in its shoes. - Brendan

    ReplyDelete
  24. dsJuly 24, 2011 at 12:22 PM

    I love the way you connect past and present, generation to generation, old country to new here. A brilliant way to use shoes! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  25. AnonymousJuly 24, 2011 at 12:27 PM

    a beautiful look into the history that makes you...wonderful :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Mark KerstetterJuly 24, 2011 at 1:18 PM

    I thought about the kinds of shoes our grandfathers wore: hard soles, they crackled and crunched the grit on the sidewalk.

    (That painting of Blake on your sidebar is one I've never seen before)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Ann GrenierJuly 24, 2011 at 6:06 PM

    Beautiful Poem Barbara.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Tom EliotJuly 26, 2011 at 11:13 AM

    AKA Tom Eliot:

    I can only echo - Beautiful - a lovely personal insight told in a strong voice.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)