*cross posting with Ethical ELA Open Write five days of poetry…
Driving across the US/México border back home today has flooded me with emotions yet again.
Leave early morning.
Lock the doors.
Send text messages.
P R A Y.
We make detailed plans
to cross the US/Mexico border –
careful about the time,
specific stops to change diapers,
packed up snacks,
new tires and oil change on the van
rerouted to avoid sudden
gunfire
between the cartel and Mexican army.
Mis niños y yo are welcomed
with love,
open arms,
abrazos,
warmth.
Y la mamá que viene del otro lado
de la frontera also
leaves early in the morning,
locks the doors,
sends messages,
P R A Y S.
She makes detailed plans
to trudge across the US/Mexico border –
careful about the time,
specific stops to change diapers,
packed up snacks,
in search of a new life
rerouted over and over
by force,
by summer heat,
by gunfire,
by assault,
by rape,
by fear,
by starvation.
She and her children are welcomed
with disgust,
barriers,
desprecio,
hate.
britt escribe 
This is so powerful. Your last 2 stanzas are heartbreaking. You words evoke such feeling.
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Oh my goodness. To walk a mile in someone else’s shoes…
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Two so similar yet treated so differently.
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Oh. So much POWER in these stanzas. The stark contrast between the two is incredible. You also have me thinking about the contrast we have between the Ukranian / European refugees vs. those from other places in the world, how one is welcomed and the other despised. It breaks my heart.
A powerful moment for me, as I was reading you work, was scrolling down through the “rerouted over and over” stanza. My fingers scrolled each line as it appeared, tacking one thing onto another in that list. One, on top of the other, on top of the other – each their own unbearable burdens, yet there are people who carry them all.
Thank you for giving me these moments.
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