Myron Ernst

Myron Ernst received his B.A. in French from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, and his M.A. "ABD" in French and Italian from the University of Iowa. His poems have appeared in: The Hopkins Review, Ninth Letter, Poetry East, Quarterly West , West Branch, and others.

From Warsaw To Wloclawek

—December 8th, 1995

This train ride from Warsaw
to Wloclawek is perfect.
Mother's old albums were right;
all shades of sepia,
with black and white
and gray, passing
and the perfect time of year—
early in December—
fields, orchards and gardens
on their way to freezing solid.
A few snowflakes come on cue,
and so too the old woman—
slowly, slowly up her slope,
a long black dress, a gray shawl
and headscarf for the Baltic
wind and cold. This compartment
is First Class, and my deep, soft seat
is burgundy. I'm done with the window.
For now, to read or even ease
my footrest out and sleep
until Wloclawek—gone to ashes
and nameless graves, those
she named, I never knew.