by Jac-Lynn Stark
On an evening when dark clouds
forming overhead threaten to release
their tears down to this world
I venture out to Lynn District Court
to gather with others who care about people
of this city abducted at traffic stops
on their way to work or in
some other every day situation that
most of us don’t have to fear
at least not yet
Earlier that day I lurked in courthouse hallways
observing two men who looked oh so ordinary
in their jeans and khakis, t-shirts, sneakers
but we know who they work for and why they are here
we know their license plates and their objectives
we know the violence within them
that I watched on recordings a woman I met showed me
Now groups of us gather under gloomy skies
a mix of skin color and languages
of ages and experiences
from a variety of neighborhoods
A long table holds photographs of men
whose wives are now alone
whose children miss their fathers
candles and flowers adorn this table of sorrow
as we witness people telling their stories
One young woman gets up to speak
two children holding her hands
her pink-clad daughter hides shyly behind her
her 11-year-old son strong and serious next to her
in his white t-shirt that says Let’s Taco About It
he takes the microphone and talks about his father
how much he misses him
how worried he is
he thanks us for being there
Oh young warrior, only 11, but not afraid to speak up
I think of my grandparents leaving Poland
I think of the poem on the Statue of Liberty:
“give me your tired, your poor,
your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”
I think of these lines from Warsan Shire:
“no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark”
Oh America, what have we become?
Jac-Lynn Stark was born in the Bronx and lives north of Boston where she enjoys pondering life either from near the ocean or in the woods. She recently retired from 14 years of teaching English at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston. Her work has been published in Maintenant 19, A Journal of Dada Writing and Art; Orange is not a colour, Poems against totalitarianism; American Graveyard, calls to end gun violence, and others. She is a proud granddaughter of immigrants and a volunteer with LUCE Immigrant Justice Network of Massachusetts.
