Illustration by Tavi Veraldi

A Poem for the Mother

Who lost her son…

In a car crash

In a dog fight

Amid the dust mines of recessed memories

A poem for the agony

For the fear

For the future

Remembering to call her before you go to sleep

When the gunshots start pouring

When the enemies roll their

Triggers

Fingered and plastered

In blood and honor

Holistic experiments

Wander the face of the Earth

Whereas a mother’s pride and joy

Leaves the Earth

Abandons her at an intersection

Running from the law

Running into the law

Of blazing guns filled to the rim with chocolate shots

His name was William

Mother Barbara

Come to me hither,

Said the holy Mother of Nature,

Your poor, your tired, your ancestors, your soiled hands

And I’ll let them breathe free.

—Jaylan Salah