Yankev Glatshteyn (1896-1971) was an American Yiddish poet who mourned the loss of his language following the decimation of millions of European Jews, the audience to whom Glatshteyn had directed his artistic communications. The author traces Glatshteyn's attachment to and loss of his language (mother tongue), using the phases of grief described by Bowlby. The final volume of poetry included the first three poems of Glatshteyn's career, which demonstrates to the author Glatshteyn's sadness over having no literary heirs and simultaneously presenting to the world that communication which was central to his existence—an acknowledgment of loss yet a profound wish to convey meaning.