By Karen Kenyon
Raphael
is 22
He has managed to cross the border to El Norte
through a dark tunnel
across the wide field of flowers,
has paid for his safety with a year of saving pesos.
He will find work, he knows
picking strawberries, tomatoes,
and take home money to his family.
But Raphael
has merged with pure light–
Hope has become a car’s headlights he cannot escape
on this cold night in San Ysidro.
Later, as his body is covered by a blanket
his mother in the Colonia awakens,
throws open her battered screen door,
covers her eyes against the blazing stars
which have come too close
to her house.
Karen Kenyon
Karen Kenyon is the author of Sunshower (a memoir), G.P. Putnam’s Sons, NY; The Brontë Family/Passionate Literary Geniuses, Lerner Publications, Minn. and Endeavor Media, London; and Charles Dickens/Compassion and Contradiction, Endeavor Media, London. She has features published in Newsweek; British Heritage; The Christian Science Monitor; and other publications. Her poetry has been in small journals, The Christian Science Monitor, and San Diego Free Press. She currently teaches for UCSD-X; SDSU’s Osher program; and SD Writers Ink.
Latest posts by Karen Kenyon (see all)
- ‘Seize the King’ at La Jolla Playhouse: Self-Righteousness, Greed and Lust for Power - September 12, 2018
- Our Fathers - June 16, 2018
- ‘Community Hero’ Attorney Steve Binder and San Diego’s Homeless Court Program - April 18, 2018
