(after the 1943 painting “Refugee Thanksgiving,” by Norman Rockwell)

She has not been killed,
or otherwise bodily injured,
in the fleeing from her home,
finding shelter and freedom
elsewhere, behind the other line.

She is tired, hungry,
cold and frightened,
and her young soul
knows just enough
to say, “These will hurt
as long as you remember.”

Still, seated in a broken church,
she is old enough to keep faith
for better days, for years full
with love, and grace, and joy.
And so she folds her hands,
says an honest prayer of thanks
for the simple meal she received,
the over large, used, warm coat,
both from a stranger, without asking.