Maya sends another message about an hour before
they are due to arrive. Peter goes up to the main road
and waits for them, so they won’t miss our entrance
in the dark.
Then, just before seven o’clock,
I see the headlights of a car, driving tentatively
down to the house. I am nervous while I wait
for them at the front door. They scramble out of the car,
numb from their long journey.
Dobrodošle*,
I greet them and (somehow uncertain)
I embrace Maya, her mother Polina and granny Tatyana.
Arseniy stands in the dark, his eyes are glued to the ground.
When they come into the house,
Tatyana asks about my mother. It’s apparent Maya didn’t
explain everything to her. She thinks Peter is my father.
Then we sit around the table. They don’t ask much,
and Maya eventually explains Papa stayed in Kyiv,
to fight with the territorial forces.
*Welcome