Libby Svenson

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The Second S

Somewhere between a shipyard in Stockholm and Ellis Island

my great-great-great grandfather lost the second S in his last name.

My last name. Our last name.

I like to think that he lost it on accident,

left it behind like my own father loses wallets

on the table at restaurants. That he left it

lying on the kitchen counter, or inside the pocket

of an old woolen coat that his wife threw away

without looking. That the little children of the village

found it while he was walking away, ran after him, crying

hey! hey! you lost your name

but maybe he just didn’t hear them over the promise of America

ringing in his ears.

But there’s also the idea

that he boarded the ship and leaned over the railing

and thought about American tongues stumbling

over the extra letters, and how he wanted

his great-great-great grandchildren to fit in,

to be pronounceable. There’s also the idea

that he just dropped it into the water, or threw it

into the wind and didn’t look back

because the promise of a better life was too loud 

to hear the whispers of regret.

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Libby Svenson is an undergraduate at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, where she is studying history and philosophy/religion, with a minor in creative writing.