Translation

for Karina Nechaeva

Translation

for Karina Nechaeva

My grandmother, my Jewish grandmother
On my mother’s side, Florene Miller,
Used to murmur to me, “Lay keppie,”
Keppie being Yiddish for head, meaning,
Really, “Still yourself a moment child,
Rest your worried head on my breast
And let all your troubles melt away
Like cherry lozenges on the tongue,
Drift off in the aroma of my floral perfumes, 
For no harm can ever come to a grandson
Of mine long as he’s in his grandma’s arms.”