A Thin Line
for the women of Juarez
for the women of Juarez
It is a wide desert
and a thin line
thin as ropes
that bind the wrists
of undernourished women
It is a vast plain
of unmitigated history
and a slim knife
that cuts off the breasts
of would-be mothers
It is a mother lode
of corporate profit
and a ribbon of
bleeding throats
It is a mass grave
of terror and rape
and a small slice
of our uncertain futures
It is large enough
to hide the bones
of suffocated women
but not quiet enough
to stifle
their cries
Kill us when you can
torture us when you can
bury us if you can
But the spirits of women
who die in battle
will return
as fierce
hummingbirds
winged warriors
of history
hovering memory
of your
forgotten humanity
A border is only
an imaginary line
all hearts
are the center
of the universe.