Break-in by Yana Kane

Break-in

The storm recedes.
Moonlight slips through the thinning clouds.

A tree has broken into a derelict house.

A branch that smashed a bedroom window
splays wide its twigs,
as if to find, as if to wake a sleeper.

That tree, bought with good money,
was planted here to serve the house
as winter windbreak and as summer shade—
a touch of nature pleasing to the eye.

The house, a dutiful tree-owner in its day,
made sure the outdoor tap watered the thirsty roots;
the basement shelves stocked spray for killing bugs
(pest, pollinator—what’s the difference?);
the shed sent out the pruning hook each spring
to set bounds on the growing limbs.

The chemicals, the tools, the shed
all vanished long ago.

Door hinges rusted shut.

Outside,
when spring is generous with rains
the tree grows taller, wider.
When drought strikes,
it drops scorched, shriveled leaves.
It suffers woodborers.
It blooms, seducing bees.

The house stays closed.

Stayed, until this storm.

The jagged opening will now invite
birds, squirrels, bats
to make their homes inside—
to over-winter, safe from bitter winds;
to set up nurseries for their young.
When their time comes,
to hide in secret nooks and die in peace.

The storm has passed.

The moonlit tree keeps watch over the roof.
The limbs embrace the walls.

*

Yana Kane came to the United States as a refugee from the USSR. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University, and a PhD in Statistics from Cornell University. Having retired after a successful technical career, she is pursuing an MFA in Literary Translation and Poetry at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Her recent and upcoming publications include 128 LIT, Allium, American Chordata, EastWest Literary Forum, The Los Angeles Review, Platform Review, RHINO Poetry, and Точка.Зрения/View.Point. “View.Point” recognized her translations of poetry of witness from Ukraine and Russia as among the “Best of 2022.” 128 LIT nominated her translation for the Deep Vellum Best Literary Translations Anthology 2025. Her bilingual poetry book, Kingfisher/Зимородок, was published in 2020.