by Janice D. Soderling
was born on December 25, 1936
in Berlin.
She had a mother and a father
who loved her fiercely and helplessly.
She had an enemy who did not love her.
He worked long hours behind a desk.
He was a thin man with a thin moustache,
and long, thin, delicate fingers which he used
to play Clair de Lune and sign papers.
All day long, he signed papers.
On December 21, 1941, he signed a paper
with five carbon copies, enabling
this child
to ride for the first time ever
in a railway car.
Janice D. Soderling is a previous contributor to The New Verse News. She has published poetry, fiction, nonfiction and translations in print and online journals based in nine countries, most recently Left Hand Waving, Horizon Review and The Pedestal. In 2009 her poetry was nominated for Dzanc Best of the Web, Sundance Best of the Net, and Pushcart. She lives in a small Swedish village.
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