Albertus Mink
Opa always talked about the Old Country
About leaving the Netherlands after the war
The voyage from Le Havre on the S.S. George Washington
And seeing that lamp raised at the golden door.
They were heading for relatives in Idaho
But their money ran out at the train station in Chicago
So they stayed there to work and raise enough money
To buy that Idaho ranch they dreamed of.
So Opa worked in the meat packing plants for six and a half
years
And when it came time to leave – the ranch was bought and
paid for –
He said he couldn’t go because the cows
“Oh, the poor cows,” he said.
They end up in the meat packing plants in Chicago
When their money runs out.
He sold the ranch at a loss and bought a chicken farm in
Joliet
And fed everyone on eggs.
I died at twenty, heir to the Joliet Ranch
And at the wake my brothers sold it for development.
Good riddance. Chickens smell.
He could have farmed potatoes instead,
and Joliet could have been our Le Havre.
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