Border Children in the News
       

Frantic families send their children
past drug runners and thieves,
through deserts, on tops of freight trains,
over 1,700 miles seeking
refuge at our border.

Tonight, we tweeze sushi into our mouths
under a blast of chilled Happy Hour air.
Screens broadcast dark-eyed children
behind chain link fences
while protestors chant
go back home! and U-S-A!

A congressman vows to expedite
their return to where they belong.
"Yeah, deprived of a hearing," we mutter
and a guy eating spicy duck wings
next to us says "there are laws for a reason."

Agile in conflict studies,
the bartender sets out
complimentary edamame.
Offers refills.
Changes the TV station.
Lets the comprehensible violence
of hockey soothe
as our drinks arrive.

Tweet

Copyright © 2019 Laura Grace Weldon All rights reserved
from Blackbird
Grayson Books
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission