Ed Meek
Asylum
It’s as easy as cutting a cord,
to separate the mothers and children—
the ones seeking asylum
from gangs and violence,
so desperate to flee
they’ll risk seizure
by the border patrol
and customs agents who need
at least two officials—
one who grabs the kids,
the other the mothers—
pinning their arms from behind,
to pry them apart like oysters.
The agents must learn to ignore
the crying and screams.
They have a job to do,
commands to obey that come
all the way from the top. Really,
it’s as simple as turning a lock,
as easy as pulling a trigger.
Ed Meeks is the author of Luck (Tailwinds Press, 2017), Spy Pond (Prolific Press, 2015), What We Love (1st World Publishing, 2007), and Flying (Edwin Mellen Press, 1992). A new collection, High Tide, is forthcoming from Aubade Publishing in spring 2020. His poems have appeared recently in Constellations, Nixes Mate, The South Florida Poetry Review, and Into the Void.
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