Thursday, December 24, 2009

THIS CHILD

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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