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News comes in every day
of this
or that
Liberian immigrant woman or man
or a Ghanaian, a Nigerian
and other Africans
dying of COVID19
in NYC,
Staten Island,
Chicago,
Philadelphia,
our people who do the hard work
of America,
dying as caregivers,
hard working women
and men
who fled war at home, who fled life
at home,
and now, news comes.
Everyday.
These names are our names,
even their bodies
are unclaimed,
like people without a country,
like the people
without a country
they were.
My heart is breaking, dear God.
Copyright 2022 Patricia Jabbeh Wesley
Patricia Jabbeh Wesley is a survivor of the Liberian Civil War who now lives in Pennsylvania. Her many books include Praise Song for My Children: New and Selected Poems (Autumn House, 2020).
Powerful.
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