next
Fear, longing, escape.
Convicts harvested, handpicked grains of wild rice,
black and brown seeds
hulled to white bone under a deviled sun.
When they break
some make it across the river.
Others are caught,
having lingered too long in the cool currents.
Three Hispanic men make their way across the border
at Heroica Nogales where they are greeted as heroes
by the triumphal Federales.
The convicts, being men of the world, are careful to listen
for the sound of a key in the lock.