Diverse Voices Quarterly Issue 1 & 2

PUZZLE
There are no extra pieces in the universe. Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill,
and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle.
—Deepak Chopra, Indian doctor and writer
His kitchen is covered in wood—
cabinets top and bottom, stirring
spoons, parquet floor. Grandpop
hunkers broad shoulders over a
pot on the stove, boiling kielbasa
and onion pierogies. The moon reflects
on the lagoon outside; wind-ripples dance
like the steam rising through
Grandpop’s fingers, spontaneous and
irregular rhythm kept by lapping
against the deck. Waves have
always talked to each other, even as
they carried my great-greatgrandparents
from Lithuania’s shores.
Someday, Grandpop will join Catherine and
his namesake, Anthony John Krystaponis, Sr.
His worn wedding band looks larger
on blunt calloused fingers that weaken
from leukemia, a word as
complicated as our last name—
just as foreign-sounding. But
watching me enjoy the food we cooked
together still brings another deep
crinkle to his eyes. In the morning
we’ll play with his robotic parrot,
a Christmas present, and we’ll talk
about old Fred, the parrot that my uncle
found in their backyard decades
ago. Grandpop will try again to teach his toy
bird to say, “I love you, Martha.” We’ll have
leftover pierogies and fresh kava
for breakfast as we work on the morning
paper’s new crossword puzzle while
sitting at the wooden kitchen
table, the Jersey lagoon still
dancing outside bay windows.
—Martha Krystaponis
Diverse Voices Quarterly, Vol. 1, Issue 1 & 2
55