YETIS

That yetis invented chess, if they did,

Cuts no ice with me. My brother likes chess

As did my Grandfather Joe but I was never

Much one for patient strategy. Besides,

Orang utans, when not murdering Marie Roget,

Brought backgammon into the world and tarsiers

Invented language in order to make puns

And where has it gotten them? Granted,

There is a yeti in my house -- quite likely the one

Who stayed with the great Wasliya Szymborska.

Granted, too, that he’s brought a chessboard

And holds a white pawn in one of his hands …

Very well – I chose, of course, the left hand

How my grandfather would have laughed

As if he always wins when his ghosts

Demands he meet them in Union Square

And play until the day breaks.

SZYMBORSKA

There was a crowd of strong, small, humorous women
With sharp eyes. My mother was one of them
Along with any number of her aunts, cousins and friends
(Her sister was another type altogether, unable
To see through a stone wall. On the other hand,
Like Yosemite Sam or Wile E. Coyote
Tamara could absent-mindedly walk off cliffs
And not fall unless she looked down.)
Some of this breed stayed behind in Poland;
Pictures of the poet Wislawa Szymborska
Make it clear she could love you
Despite the faults she knew you had
And which she'd list on slight provocation.
More; in emergencies she could create
Virtues in you no one else could even imagine.