Fed by the brazen gift of drought’s famine,
Her tongue tasting language after language
Here at our search-burned landfill of garbage,
A migrant woman scrounges for samplings
That might fill her children’s insides. Scavenge,
Mother of Exiles, on your paltry stage.
You play the part of a human bandage
On a body that will not stop bleeding.
She says: “Storied landlords, open your doors
To us, the roofless. We’ve hidden in swarms
To escape the dread masters of horror,
The lead-teeming automatic arms
You profit from. Welcome us, the deplored.
We stand at the landing of your golden dorm.”
Published in the May 2024 issue: View Contents