land

Plangent

Plangent: striking, resonant. adjective; latin plangere – to strike. Striking the breast in grief, how women grieved. A plânge – romanian – cry, wail. Plan-gent. The throbbing of the human heart, a lover’s knocking at the door. Our bodies respond to the soil. Their life and chemistry changing shape according to the earth below. As ifContinue reading “Plangent”

Romanian Diaries: home within

Part II Today, I arrive at my grandparents’ meagre home in a small village. I see my ninety year old grandfather after a decade. My eyes crack open with tears of joy as his palms feel my face, my cheeks, perhaps he is checking whether I am real. Am I really here? He is oldContinue reading “Romanian Diaries: home within”

my home hurts

Start packing, we’re leaving next week. I was fourteen when I watched my home shrink and disappear from the round window of a cramped plane. Friends, music band, teachers, family, home, fields, mountains, grandmother, streets, language, dog – all left behind, becoming smaller, and disappearing as I trudged with a heavy suitcase. My face wasContinue reading “my home hurts”