Edward S Gault

 

ARREST

The neighbors saw them,

Late that night

Pound at the door,

Then break it in and enter.

Moments later they came out,

With an elderly man and woman

In handcuffs.

They were small and fragile,

Still, the big men held them tight.

One of the officers told them to stay quiet

                                                            Not to resist

                                                                         Not to fight.

The couple were dazed, confused, and tired

From having been wrested from sleep.

An officer told them that they didn’t belong,

Their time in this country was at an end;

And they would be sent back to their own country.

The old man explained that this was his country,

He and his wife were both citizens,

They ran a little store down the street,

on the corner.

The officer said that they would check into all of that,

But in the end, it would be irrelevant,

                                           They did not belong there

                                                                   Their time here was at an end.

They were then put into the van, and never seen again.

The shop was boarded up.

The neighbors went back to their beds

                                                               Or to stirring their tea.

They couldn’t sleep well, though

                            The silence said, “The next time, it could be me.”