I remember one day, when I was smaller than now, 
my grandmother received a large envelope,
ribboned with foreign stamps, par avion

She weeps when she opens it and looks inside

I ask
Grandma, why are you crying?

In her broken English she says
From Bachory, Ukraine, моя сестра

She hands me the photo,
a young woman, holding a child
in front of large thicket aside a thatched house

On the back, in cursive Cyrillic, it reads
Noisy are the rustling groves
Glance sister at this photo...
Memories are there

It is signed
With Love
Kateryna, 26, Ivan, 2 (1910)

cc: Chagall 2022