LatinosUSA

The schemes of the shadow

operating in the light, they arrived

the shore quietly,

it was biblical, with the blueprint

in their hands, spewing up the hymn

of The Promised Land: “Fix your gaze up,

there yonder, lies your kingdom.”

They were teaching us how to pray

and say “Amen!” with closed eyes —

while learning the works of our hands,

and were busy digging through

our dirt, counting their blessings

one by one in gold — at the table

where the blood was compromised

Benjamin’s whispery went for a bag

of silver coins, and his kiss was doom!

We cast blame upon the strange man

but a kin planted the kiss,

cold as the deepest knife

that chopped us in pieces

of ruin and defeat in rows

With heart —

like warm harmattan morning

we welcomed the strangers

wearing war in disguised with a smile

to a gracious Land.

They say we were “saved by grace”

No! We were ambushed by grace

our hospitality was met with the

brute force of guns; broken by

the deepest trust behind the

family door whose latch was

left off by family trust.