Lessons

Irena arrived by Kindertransport. Although strange, her new parents were kind.
“Poppa” played banjo at the pub. “Momma” mended clothes.
Neither earned much money.
Unlike her friend Amelia, placed in a house where daily lessons were beaten into her,
Irena learned English listening to “Poppa” recite words to songs.
He pronounced them slowly, spelled them for her while she carefully drew letters on the chalkboard beside the window.
Years passed. Irena grew tall and lanky and beautiful. She forgot her home in Warsaw Ghetto, forgot how to speak her native Polish.
Never, ever did she forget her real Momma and Poppa looking out the window of an entirely different train.