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| This is my late father, 26 years ago today, on the birthday he shared with his mother, an immigrant born in Italy, who died before her 100th birthday. |
My friend, who lives in Minneapolis,
Wrote, “I feel empty,” in a text today.
She feels angry, and I feel powerless.
Has this become our fate? This police state?
My father served proudly in the Navy,
And today he would have turned 94.
I have never questioned his legacy.
Today I ask, “What was he fighting for?”
Father, I lack the words to protect
The freedom of your immigrant parents,
And my children’s future under attack.
Poetry is useless against tyrants.
I curse the bullies with blood on their vests.
I bid you, Father, to avenge these deaths.
