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PAPÁ, NO!

by amnicholas

Papá…no! Papá, no!
She’s a little bit of a girl,
exhausted, hungry, thirsty, from the month long journey
by foot, bus, and train.
And now she sees a big man in a uniform
clap handcuffs on her papá and drag him off.
She tries to follow.
Papá…no!

A uniformed woman smiles at her and picks her up.
Kidnapped, a nightmare.
Her papá, her protector, rendered helpless.
The woman fastens her in a car seat, and drives off.
By evening, the child cries in a chain link pen,
and her plaintive voice joins the others:
mamá, mi tía, papá, mi hermano.
Their cries are interrupted only by sobs.

Papá, no!