You do not flee from your home
if there’s not
something burning inside.
Try hard to gather
your family photos
if you can,
maybe some jewelry
you got from your grandmother.
Only the most important things,
when you know
you must go.
We never leave home
when it is safe.
Once we leave
it is not without fear.
Their bodies shook
and trembled
past the border.
I am not one to pretend
I could endure
the same.
I would never have
to imagine.
In the end it is all swept away like ashes and dust.
All that’s left is wondering
when we can wake up
from the American dream.