by W. Luther Jett
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| The Trump administration has moved to classify more than 6,000 living immigrants as dead, canceling their social security numbers and effectively wiping out their ability to work or receive benefits in an effort to get them to leave the country. —The Guardian, April 11, 2025 |
The dead brush their teeth,
drink coffee, stare
at the morning news screen.
The dead are the lead feature.
The dead take the crosstown
bus to the factory, the fast
food place, the office.
They send their children to school.
Are their children also dead?
No-one is certain. The dead
Call up their doctors, their
lawyers, their graduate advisors.
All the lines are dead.
The dead go back to work.
The dead receive paper cuts
and bleed. Their blood is red.
The dead walk among us.
The dead sit beside us
in the restaurant, on the
underground, in the park.
You would not know,
to look at them, that they are dead.
The dead go home for supper.
The dead shower and go to bed.
There is a ship in the harbor, waiting
to sail away in the morning.
The dead will not be on it.
W. Luther Jett is a native of Montgomery County, Maryland and a retired special educator. His poetry has been published in numerous journals as well as several anthologies. He is the author of six poetry chapbooks. His full-length collection, “Flying to America” was published by Broadstone Books in 2024, while his most recent chapbook, “The Colour War”, has just been released by Kelsay Books.
