POEM "HOW IT GOES" BY NATIVE AMERICAN POET ABIGAIL CHABITNOY

II.

John says he is listening to your concerns.

8-year-old Franklin of Guatemala was

reunited with his father and watching them

embrace right now it is possible to forget

the latest counts

250 or 559 or more than 400

at least 2,000¹ (maybe 14,000)²

186, or more than 10,000³

500 or 2,000 as many as 15,000⁴

btw 200 or 300 and 500, or 2,000⁵

(alternatively, such facts vary—by the time you read this we will have forgotten how many. the list grows. but who's counting?)

Jakelin-Albertha-Savanna-

colonies of birds are already in decline. cite predation.⁶

and yes I

can still cry while showing you

my teeth, but

I couldn't tell you why I feel

vertigo

in the bed

in the house where

I

was a child

only,

________________

¹ separated.

² detained.

³ buried.

⁴ missing. murdered. prone

⁵ to be incorrectly labeled.

⁶ massacred

This is America and it is (year-of-our-supposed-lord) __.

This is America since 1492.

This is America, we were born taking children from their mothers and their fathers

This is America and we've been taking babies from mothers with too many babies

(I.Y.O.) in your lifetime.

This is America and I want to tell you too it is beautiful

but

—vindictive or entombed—

Now we are sending soldiers to the mothers with their children fleeing soldiers

we inspired to threaten mothers with their children.

Still we are burying women with their mouths closed.

Still we are buying women with our mouths closed.

Still we are missing.

III.

Not all the children have come home not all the children come home not all the children are children get to be children will have children

IV.

"Yeah, well, [kids]* get stolen. That's how it goes."

* he might have said "land." he might have said "women." he might have been smiling respectfully to diffuse the situation.

SOURCE: Excerpt from the poetry collection In the Current Where Drowning is Beautiful by Abigail Chabitnoy, Wesleyan University Press, Connecticut, USA, 2022, pp. 52-53.