pain
Donnez-nous aujourd’hui notre pain quotidien.
Give us what we need each day.
Grant us courage to learn from our suffering.
je suis né pour un petit pain
(not born for very much)
my father-in-law joseph would repeat
as if to convince himself it was
okay
to feel as if he didn’t matter
in the grand scheme of things
as if his life wouldn’t shake
anyone out of their lethargy
their belief system that
they
didn’t
matter
much
his, not a unique conviction
many believed this
a proud, invisible people
held hostage to history
un petit pain pour un petit peuple
shame
framing
pain
joe was a kind man, honest and angry
all things the world needs
when everything feels
like it is
spinning
madly
out of control
hurtling
toward
annihilation
joe’s wry smile appears on his son’s—
my husband’s—face
What does all this really mean?
he seems to ask
as he prepares himself
for the hard work
that is dying
all I see is love,
lavish!
reflected in his
sea-green eyes
les anciennes douleurs, effacer
ancestral pain, erased