There is a pounding at the door—
BAM! BAM! BAM!
The wolves are howling:
“Everyone out!
You can take twenty kilograms.
No more!
Move!
Now!”
Our eyes are wide with fear.
Bella is crying.
She clings to her doll.
My mother looks around
the room that is not ours.
There is nothing here that belongs to us.
My mother,
always thinking of her family,
takes a loaf of bread and a few potatoes.
And then my father takes
her hand
and my mother takes
Bella’s hand
and Bella takes
Saul’s hand
and Saul takes
my hand.
The wolves are
pushing and shoving us out the door.
There is no need for a suitcase.
What we want weighs too much.
We take each other.