To the Special Feature Page     To our home page

To the previous piece

Wilderness
by Irme Oravecz

The greatest pleasure in America was,
and still is, 
if I think about it,
when, walking in the wilderness,
I arrive at a suitable valley,
or perhaps I am already camped there,
I've imagined, I imagine,
that it's mine,
I'm a newly arrived settler, I break and cultivate the soil,
build a house, establish a family,
sons, I'll have sons, my sons will have sons too;
we'll get rooted in the land,
generations will follow generations on the ranch,
we'll overcome every danger, every ordeal
and stay here forever,
grow to be one with the land, with the valley--
my heart was filled with pain, though,
and I still feel that pain today.

To the top of this page