Kianna Novacek

Yankee, 1954

[Kocham çie] 
My grandpa never said I love you 
to us, but he never had to say
           it because he would always pray 
           for us and polka dance when we were feeling blue. 
           [Kocham çie] 
                      He would grab our tattered blankets when we lay, 
                      while telling us crazy stories we thought couldn’t be true. 
                      This is why he never had to really say 
                                 that he loved us after every day 
                                 or night or the “Annethea get me some coffee!” argue. 
                                 [Kocham çie] 
                                            My grandpa always smelled like fresh bales of hay, 
                                            or the grease from making the tractors brand new. 
                                            He did anything for family, and that is why he never had to say. 
                                                       My more-than-grandpa has passed away, 
                                                       that Polish phrase branded to me like a tattoo. 
                                                       [Kocham çie] 
                                                       was all dziadosz really had to say. 

About Kianna Novacek

Kianna Novacek is an undergraduate student, poet, and golfer originally from a small community in Northwest Minnesota. She moved to Grand Forks to continue her education in Kinesiology and to golf, but certainly not for the smell of Simplot. Although she finds her passion in exercise science, she finds herself drawn to poetry and writing. Kianna believes, from one human to another, that poetry help others feel heard and understood.