Can we walk in this new land,
heads held to the sky, no questions
left on the table? Who --or What--
Will greet us? it borders on insanity
to think we can move around as if
unscathed. BUt we won't flinch--
even if our eyes fill with shame
when years of sweat and sturggle
flash before us; the ones left behind
in the dirt and heat. We step with
caution over this new earth, careful
not to speak above a whisper, shoes
gone, feet blistered and swollen.
Bodies of one breath on the move.
Cathy Porter, Omaha, NE in The Blue Collar Review, fromPartisan Press