My Neighbors in Lincoln, Nebraska
This poem was translated from its original French (included below) by Patron Kokou Henekou and Zócalo Poetry Editor, Connie Voisine.
I have neighbors
at the corner of N 26th & Holdrege:
the police station and a tree that announces their proximity
to me. I find myself surprised to be happy about
this closeness at first. Did I say happy?
I think of better worlds hardly possible.
Now, each time I pass beneath this tree
I think of the “I can’t breathe” of Eric Garner,
and how these words contrast with my dreams.
