Cross the Sea

A girl in Gaza

  speaks into a table microphone:

Do you believe in infinity?

If so, what does it look like to you?

Not like a wall

Not like a soldier with a gun

Not like a ruined house

  bombed out of being

Not like concrete wreckage

    of a school’s good hope

            a clinic’s best dream

In fact not like anything

imposed upon you and your family

thus far

    in your precious thirteen years.

My infinity would be

the never-ending light

you deserve

every road opening up in front of you.

Soberly she nods her head.

In our time        voices cross the sea

easily

but sense is still difficult to come by.

Next girl’s question:

Were you ever shy?