By Karina Lutz

child
listen to this
we did not believe the stories
could be so bad/true
– Bubbe

listen to this
we escaped
and were jailed for it
– Sofu

listen, capital has the right to cross
borders hourly
but humans, no
– Yippie

listen for my child
I cannot hear her anymore
– today, today, wake up

listen for me,
as I cannot hear, you
who are outside
– now

Listen.
It is time to build a human wall
around the detention centers,
let out the last shift
of guard labor,
let none in
but those who carry food,
medicine, water
– Our turn

Karina Lutz is a writer, editor, teacher, and lifelong activist. She helped secure passage of sustainable energy legislation, thwart a proposed megaport, and restore wetlands in her home watershed of Narragansett Bay, RI. In 2013, she received honorable mention from Homebound Publications Poetry Prize for her manuscript, Preliminary Visions. www.yogaforpeace.massageplanet.com