Barca Nostra, 19 December 2019

Their report cards pinned to their chests will not have 
saved them    pathetic passports     barely good enough 
to make paper balls

loaded dice     error message     this world is not their home 
the white border closed to the children of the rusty trawler

the words are absent     only want to pray     & bow down before
the fallen children in the field of honor of the struggle for the good life 
their grades pathetic passports pinned to their chests

night after night in the Mediterranean Sea     in the middle of a tablecloth 
of paper funeral flowers     a boat wanders off course     and sinks

this world is not their home 
forever closed the white border

Translated from French by Kareem James Abu-Zeid