‘Anna hears the call’ was published in Beyond Bad Times. An Anthology of North American Poetry, Edited by Vanna Tessier, Edmonton Snowappel Press, 1993
Anna hears the call
The sun strikes fierce
Anna wipes the sweat
that stings her eyes
her calloused hand
holds the knife
her nostrils flare
as she inhales the smoke
of more slash and burn
that will keep them
from going hungry
in the year to come
Anna pauses briefly
there was a baby
she gave it
to be sent North
she gave it
with all of her
useful love
she gave it
and still
they bother her
Come down, they said
and sign
or else . . .
There's a baby
she told her boss
you stay, he said
or else . . .
There was the rat tat tat
of machine gun fire
over the mountains . . .
The sun strikes fierce
Anna wipes the sting
from her burning brow
before she bends
to pick up the knife