It’s turned inside out
like an assault rifle firing
through five bodies.

It’s a wall and underneath it
the edges of survival
sharpen every day.

Is the border determined
by laws or by the one who
jumped from the top of the
skyscraper and survived?

Is the border between my child
and another’s a simple choice,
even if it’s completely legitimate?

Does the choice determine
the border, or does the border
abolish choice?

“Because I had no choice
I jumped across the border!”

On the other side, heavy
barbed wire wrapped
slowly around him without

touching him —
a razor-thin thread
around invisible solitude.

Trans. by the author and Nathan Hoks