21st Century Travel

We loaded the children 
into capsules and shot them 
into space.

They didn’t have a chance 
to learn their own names 
before we had them holding 
their stories in white plastic bags:

Featherless migrations
follow environmental triggers, too.

Days to live
grow shorter.

Fluctuating temperatures
signal mass graves nearby.

Water begins to flow
yellow.

In a tent perched
on the tip of a screw,
children eat three meals a day,
awaiting take-off.

They aren’t hungry now,
but in a few years,
someone will need to
teach them how to smile.

Wash your face.
Eat this bread.
Do your best to be credible.

My blood has built pyramids.
Your fear has built walls.

Tell me why you’re afraid
and
maybe we’ll let you in.

Published in The Adroit Journal, Issue Twenty-Eight