"Once I Loved A Polish Boy" (2000)

Once I loved a Polish boy:
no matter here or there,
his lineage was pure
and his aunt and uncle,
no less Polish, lived next door.
That round Slavic face,
the alcoholic stories,
allergy to polkas, photo
of tiny shoulders drooping
behind a grown-up accordion.
He told me about moss
and wild horses, willow trees;
about flowers, and the hot name
of summer that follows
the chilly Polish spring.
He made of me a maiden
in a costume of red and white.
Oh, and none of that is true,
I made it all up, almost:
I just saw a movie once
and thought, wouldn't it be nice.