The Flood

(based on hearing of events in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico)

He was probably just
7, 8 or 9
leaving his work of bagging
groceries and pushing carts
much too late
with a few tips in his pocket
maybe for a mother
or a little sister
or brother
a contribution to the
meager household funds
for food or clothing
or the toys father
could not buy
and one day it rained
much too hard
and the path home
in this colonia
at the Mexican border
flooded

and in his tiredness
at 11 pm or so
his judgment and
that of his two companions
was overwhelmed

and they thought they could swim
across the bridge
and maybe they held
each other's hands
but then they could not
and someone let go
because the exhaustion from

the day's work of pushing carts

carrying groceries to cars

was too much

for the small thin arms

in a white shirt

and uniform blue pants

and the torrential gushing water

too strong
and little fingers unlocked

and separated
the boys
the little workers
let go into the cold waters'
embrace
into the doorway out of
a short lived life of struggle
observed daily by
the shoppers' eyes
blinded to their plight
by their accustomed
indifference.

@Fall 2000