Fragments

I am listening to the fragments of your stories
Once they were fluid and brought me back to
a world I had never known
to my grandfather’s story
I had longed to hear for a long time
When you finally decided I was ready
or maybe you were, you started telling me
all I needed to know to be myself
I saw a remote village wounded by the war
I smelled the acrid smoke of destruction and fear
I heard people crying in desperation
I tried to wipe tears away from a child’s face
I felt the sunshine on the beach
and the sea healing the pain
with the hopes and freedom of youth
But now the fragments pull apart
and I am trying to bring the images
back together. I am mourning for the losses
yet to come. I am hoping for a future we can still build

Laura Zucca-Scott, Ph.D., is a bilingual writer and educator. Her works have been published in English and Italian. Recently, her work was featured in the North Dakota Quarterly. In December 2023, she was the recipient of the Third Prize of the International Literary Prize, “Florence, Capital of Europe,” Italy.