The Slightly Persian Family

Pahn and Aiks    have come                                                       

        to the museum of natural history  

          It is crowded                  Pahn notices                                        

a particular family—                                                          

three children and an adult 

that seems familiar      somehow      and

follows them upstairs                                    

Pahn thinks                                                                              

 that there is something                    

                       slightly Persian

about them      and wonders

 if one of their parents was from Iran

  As they are filing past a series                                              

         of exhibits 

he catches                                                                   

a bit of a docent’s talk                            

           about a creature that lives                             

         in swamps and bogs                            

He isn’t sure                                                                

what kind of creature it is     and

when he comes                                                

      to the small aquarium                                 

where it is held                           

the water                     

                                is full of many small animals—

 fish

pollywogs

         larvae    

and he isn’t sure                             

which she was describing

but assumes

it must have been the fish 

                       

He goes downstairs to find Aiks again…                       

 …Pahn and Aiks                                                                

and the slightly Persian family

are walking through town                                 

to a house that they are all sharing             

Aiks comments to Pahn                                    

 that the youngest child

 “is really strange

and is kind of annoying”

Pahn agrees                                                     

                                   

“The boy is a little odd”

but he does not find the boy annoying

He seems like                                                  

a child who                  

has not had adequate attention

                      because his parents have been too busy

 

As Pahn watches the children                                   

     cavorting as they make their way home        

          he begins to wonder                                                

if they could be Ahnaheeta’s children—

Her father was Zoroastrian

      He looks at them closely                                         

to see if there is a resemblance

but is unsure…

 …When they arrive at the house                                      

they all settle in

                                               

Pahn sits on the couch                                      

      while the slightly Persian family              

                      stands in a group     nearby                                         

discussing arrangements               

Their mother comes in the room                           

and Pahn                                                         

 watches her                            

as she walks by him 

She does not notice him                                            

     at first     and he

doesn’t get a good look                                

at her face     but

she is thin

   and small

                                           and has Ahnaheeta’s black hair 

She talks to her family

in a calm

                              authoritative hurry

Pahn watches her head pivot                          

                              slowly              

in his direction

as she contemplates some question

and sees                                              

the recognition bloom

awkwardly on her face 

She smiles                               

and comes over to him

He can see that she is                                       

surprised                                             

and a little embarrassed                                            

  at the coincidence of them sharing a house

He gets up

and they hug affectionately

She says a few words

and they hug again

Pahn wonders                          

what Aiks is thinking

                        of this affectionate greeting  

He is overjoyed    to see Ahnaheeta again     

but he can tell

that Ahnaheeta finds it stressful

and would rather

         he weren’t there