Sister

🌻

Whenever my sister comes home,
She draws the curtains wide,
Narrowing her eyes at the sun.

The shadow that spills into the room
Becomes a game for my nephews—
They chase it, laughing.

At the window, there is a knock:
Grandfather Doszhan’s cough,
The chirping of birds on the roof,
The neighbor woman’s greeting...

And I—
Leaning my right shoulder against the doorway,
Unable to say how much I missed my sister—
Kiss my nephews again and again.

Inside the room,
A heavy sigh
And pure, untroubled joy
Quietly wrestle with each other.

My sister,
Without turning back,
Stands long at the window,
Ignoring the children clinging to her hem.

Then, at some moment,
A single tear falls from her eyes,
And she hides behind the curtain.

I call the children to me:
“Come, let’s look for your mother—
But you mustn’t peek behind the curtain.”

I marvel at them:
They count all the way to sixty-one,
And though they know
She is behind the curtain,
They lift the carpet’s edge to check.

My sister whispers:
“Sweetheart, I’m behind the curtain.”

And still,
We do not stop searching.