Travelers Welcome

Travelers Welcome

Monday, April 28, 2014

AFTER CATCHING A DOZEN ESCAPEES
FROM THE CAMP BEYOND THE HILL

by Michael H. Brownstein

We will never remember
the loose thread near the fence is not a thread.
nor is it hair, a part of a plant,
remnants of a spider’s web.
Look closely.
Skin.
Flayed skin.
Thinly sliced.
Caught in the thorny brush near barbed wire.
We will never remember
Morning—it's still there,
changed,
stretched,
spelling out לקוות, rajaynaynaa, հույս, vam thiab cia siab,  U du gi gv di
(hope)—
and the guards do not notice—
but we do on our way to our details
and it makes us strong.
We will never remember
How to escape,
in twos and threes,
once in a larger group of five,
All the stupid men
We are today
Still following orders
never catching on.
We will never remember
All of the camps,
And fighting back.

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