is confronted by their unfamiliar
faces, mangled
laid bare in the verdant grass
like a falcon devours a field mouse
blood
on the rust-hued walls of a campfire
throwing sparks in your eyes, and
the numbers: 09650, 05653
Peering deeper into
the pages
until they can no longer
be read in English
For the Japanese- Americans who lived through internment.
George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, The Angle at St. John Fisher College, and 3:16 Journal. George’s blogs, essays and letters have appeared in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Havana Times, South China Morning Post, The Buffalo News, and more.
See all his poems on Tea House here.
