Lily of My Heart

Daniel

You came to live with us in 1991,
my Godfather begged nan to take you in;
there was no fight, she was easily sold--
you quickly became family, a win-win;
we are both only children, eighteen years apart.
You were my older brother, and a best friend.
A student at Villanova, you said it was unlike Prague,
thousands of miles away from home, dressed in grunge trend
American style, but on MTV that you watched
for hours and hours, Europeans were doing the same.
Nan lovingly cooked you liver and onions just like home;
bringing Slovak girlfriends, carefully learning our names.
Maybe it was because you lived with us for 6 years,
maybe it wasn't such a shock since I was two
and nan treated you like you were her own--
these are the memories that I'm glad I knew.