Matamoros Mexico
Tent city on the border
Synonymous with waiting
Synonymous with suffering
Synonymous with hopelessness
As Covid shuts the doors to asylum
The magic applications
Impossible to obtain
From shuttered offices
Safety
Impossible to secure
After batterings from Hanna
Leaves camps inundated
Vulnerable to vermin
Twenty bodies float in the Rio
Leaders in the camps
Victims of drug cartels
Children try to play
In filth between tents
Food and water remain scarce
And insecure
Metamoros
Symbol of decay
Of our America
Our America
Pledged to be our brothers’ keeper
To welcome huddled masses
Shuts her doors
To suffering
Shuts her doors
To those whose countries
She herself
Exploits
By Karen Melander-Magoon
