Wednesday, April 7, 2010

What do we hold?

"Who takes? (She laughs.) The world. (She gestures out.) That. (She taps her head.) This is all you can take. When I was a little girl, walking out of Poland after the bombs...the ones of us who were left. Ach. We took all the wrong things...little spoons, a duck, a purple table runner...We were so stupid. We would be holding all the wrong things for the rest of our lives, no matter where we went...Ach. I would hold the little comb to my chest all night long on the boat across the ocean, because I cannot hold my mother's hand, never again. And I think, this will save me. This will be enough. A comb she gave me. Because her hand had been on it. This wlll save me. This thing."

Zofia.
Tongue of a Bird
By: Ellen McLaughlin

1 comment:

rachel rianne said...

that's beautiful and heartbreaking.
"holding all the wrong things for the rest of our lives."
...will we do the same?