no-see-ums bite my arms and ankles
still, warm, humid 7AM
haze from the cardboard plant
combined with mist from last night’s rain
moves in ground clouds through the low hilled valley
giving body to an imperceptible north wind
somewhere
a mother can’t find her 3 year old child
who sits in a separate cell because
she didn’t know the rules of entry
somewhere
grandparents, dad, cousins, uncles
celebrate the long awaited
birth of a first child
continuing a long lineage
here
the sound of a single bird is deafening
as my silent soul stretches
to hold it all as one