But from the North

Ah,

but from the north,

but from the north they came

all the same,

they came from the north

and that is where

I come in,

my ancestors,

who had once traveled

and traveled again

from France

and I don't know,

Viking raids before that,

but at any rate,

from French Canada,

they came

in the midst

of persecution,

same as so many others,

a litany of immigration

throughout the ages,

at the turn of the 20th century,

two separate families,

settling on the border

of two states,

growing up together

and finally seeing

their children wed,

and their language lost

to a new country

that still had little room enough

for them.