Greeting New York
[Poem composed
in Polish under the name Stefan Zachartowicz;
translated by the author]
We leave behind shattered lives,
Family homesteads and ashes in graves ...
Homeless tramps .. From the homeland exiles ...
Weakened from endurance, however strong! ...
Strong to break with the bygone past —
And to search for shelter in another world!
Tied to the past with sad thoughts —
We joyfully greet the Statue of Liberty!
Aboard the U.S.S. General Stewart, over the Atlantic Ocean, 21 February 1952