Green Card Soldier   ~  Pantoum     

seasonal migrant worker
unwed mother in Arizona
temporary work visa expires
sent back across the border

unwed mother in Arizona
allows her teen-aged son
sent back across the border
the chance to have a better life

allows her teen-aged son
now after his first eighteen years
the chance to have a better life
by staying and joining the US Army

now after his first eighteen years
he fights to become an American
by staying and joining the US Army
by becoming an American fighting man

he fights to become an American
offers his life for this country
by becoming an American fighting man
becomes an American citizen, posthumously

 

 

 

Lingual Diversity           

We share the bench
at a neighborhood park
by the court house,
watch children play.

He says something, points
to a running, laughing boy,
probably his son,
about the same age
as my daughter,
also running and laughing.
I nod and smile.

I point toward my little girl,
say the same thing in English
he most likely said
in his language.
He nods, smiles.

We, like our children’s
laughter, require no translation.