ROLE REVERSAL

My grandparents fled

the Pogroms of Cossacks,

and landed in America

without knowing a word

of English.

They relied on me

to decipher their mail

when I came to visit.

They felt safe in America,

but trembled when they heard

Father Coughlin proclaim,

(while giving the Nazi salute):

“When we get through

with the Jews in America,

they’ll think the treatment

they received in Germany

was nothing.”

As a young grandchild,

I had to interpret the news

to reassure them nobody

in America was allowed

to persecute Jews.

Now that I’m old,

I get the heebie-jeebies

when I hear Trump studies,

“Mein Kampf” for his speeches.

But internet-savvy grandkids

inform me he has no plans

to go after the Jews.

When I get tangled up on my laptop,

I must wait for their visit

to help me resolve tech roadblocks,

I can’t fix without their help. Milton