Imagine the Angels of Bread, by Martin Espada

This is the year that

squatters evict landlords,

gazing like admirals from

the rail

of the roofdeck

or levitating hands in praise

of steam in the shower;

this is the year

that shawled refugees

deport judges

who stare at the floor

and their swollen feet

as files are stamped

with their destination;

this is the year that police revolvers,

stove-hot, blister the fingers

of raging cops,

and nightsticks splinter

in their palms;

this is the year

that darkskinned men

lynched a century ago

return to sip coffee quietly

with the apologizing descendants

of their executioners.

This is the year that those

who swim the borders undertow

and shiver in boxcars

are greeted with trumpets and drums

at the first railroad crossing

From “Imagine the Angels of Bread” by Martin Espada. (Norton: $18.95; 107 pp.)

Copyright 1996 Reprinted by permission.