My friend says that everythingis anthropology: chess playersin Tompkins Square, the lineof cars at Starbucks, preteen girlsfilming Tik Tok videos.
But the young girl, baby soldier,M16 swaddled to her chest,she faces straight ahead,guards the airportimmigration officer who stampsmy passport. I, in from the skyin my jet lagged haze, noticeher eyebrows, the childperfect arches, pressedinto the parchmentof her adolescent face.She, innocent visage,sharp-eyed babe, holds a gunthat could split me in two.
Everything elsemight be anthropology,but this girl,she is a poem.
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Image by Mario Cesar from Pixabay