Lit eZine Vol 10 | p-13 | POETRY | Pride Without the Fall – Manic Sylph Writes… Poetry & Thoughts by Mona Soorma

SHORT POEM

PRIDE WITHOUT THE FALL
Short Poem by Evie Groch

Three smiling family members posing outdoors in a garden with greenery and flowers — *AI-Generated Image*

My parents loved me with accents
as thick as slow-moving syrup;
their tongues were not designed
for English vowels, nor had they 
the accompanying gestures.

I always worried they wouldn’t
be well understood and shielded 
them with my protective apron
of translation covering up
their stained speech.

But the day came when I left
and pushed the fledglings out the nest,
to fly and land on their own.

They flew, although not in a straight line.
They zigged and zagged and landed askew.
Up they got, again and again
and again and kept lifting off.
What every child wants for her parents.

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Evie Groch, Ed.D., is the President of the Ina Coolbrith Circle and enjoys writing poetry, short stories, memoirs, opinion pieces and letters to the editor. Morning rituals include word puzzles and Sudoku.

Her work has appeared in the New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Contra Costa Times, and online venues. Many of her poems are published in anthologies such as: Soul Poet Society – Quintessence Anthology, My Robot & Me Anthology, My Father Taught Me Anthology, and Touching Poems of Love Anthology.

Evie engages in the themes of travel, language, humor, immigration, and justice. She peppers her writing with words from a variety of world languages, several of which she speaks. She is the author of What Do You Bring to the Table? and her poetry book titled Half the Hurricanes. Her next poetry book, The Other Shoe, will be out soon.