I would very much like
to look down from above,
unseen by those below,
in my country, see the turmoil
roiling so many, the lines
formed at borders, a queue
for those deemed less valuable,
and I wonder where in the line
my ancestors would be
were they still alive.
I wonder what life
would be like if I
was born in Lithuania
or if my parents never met.
I wonder, too, what life
would be like if we still
honored the principles
our ancestors came here to find.

First Published in Culture & Identity, Vol. 2, The Poet (2022)