Anne Frank Memes Two.
by Amy Kaplan
“Does anyone know who this child is? Does anyone know their name even?”
Where is my mother? Deep inside. Only.
Where is my father? Deep inside. Only.
My son asks my other son, “What are we going to do when they are gone? Mom and Dad, both of them? We’ll be all alone. We’ll need each other.”
Mayhem and anonymity will answer your questions. You hope because Jesus is your lord and your savior. Sure. Okay. Bats are disappearing and the saguaros have no water, all the time, now.
Decades have passed since even one dead insect smashed itself against the truck grill, the windshield. I live in the wilderness too.
Not even Mom can save you from despair my lost ones wandering the earth without me. Not then. Not now. Not ever.
Hypocrisy is the most deadly disease of all.
Standing on the landing waiting to be selected after a long ride completely in the dark.
Does anyone know this baby’s name?
Kids on bikes behind the yellow line, watching, staring. Looking.
Life’s like this, isn’t? Who’s going to go first, rush in last? The footage runs, runs, runs. Doesn’t stop, ever.
Ripping flesh off of bones. Uncooked flesh. Blood drips through their teeth, my loves, my loves.
Children hanging on teachers’ legs crying. Crying. Wailing. Who took those babies home, then?
Where is my mother? Deep inside. Only.
Where is my father? Deep inside. Only.
As he cried, I remembered his ancestors. Nothing new here. No, nothing new.
Stop saying so. Stop saying so.
Does anyone know whose baby this is? Anyone?
Once, I believed all this fit into the corners, safely. No.
Anyone?
Does anyone know this baby’s name? Anyone?
Anyone?
