Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking

Jan Wiezorek

You dream—plums, apples, pears—
but they wake you up—who are they—
in the night—they take your pictures—
give you a new name—haul you
from the Carolinas to peppers,
peaches, herbs, grapes—Michigan—
being herded—then threatened—
we’ll call immigration on you—
then made to work twelve hours
with no rest—picking cantaloupe,
stone cherries, cucumber—made
to sleep in a dilapidated house—
on the floor—Garcia—I mean—
no bunks, no mattress, no room
—on the floor—Guzman—I mean
—not enough money for medicine
for your family—pumpkins, plums,
raspberries—you said it best—it broke
you—because we are all a disgrace
to our family names, I heard the boy
say, years ago, blueberries, broccoli,
kohlrabi, all so low, grueling, down
on the floor—just to see all this
is the beginning of something new,
a change to come inside all of us.

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Jan Wiezorek
Poet

Jan Wiezorek writes from Michigan. His debut poetry chapbook, Forests of Woundedness, is forthcoming this fall from Seven Kitchens Press. Wiezorek’s poetry appears, or is forthcoming, in The London Magazine, The Westchester Review, Lucky Jefferson, The Broadkill Review, LEON Literary Review, and elsewhere. He taught writing at St. Augustine College, Chicago, and authored the teachers’ ebook Awesome Art Projects That Spark Super Writing (Scholastic, 2011). Wiezorek’s poetry has been awarded by the Poetry Society of Michigan.

Photography by Mikhail Nilov