We're sitting in the fake Chinese restaurant
For our family get-together.
Caged animals, we snarl and bicker politely.
Two armed policemen march five workers out of the kitchen
and hold them for ransom down at the station.
They don't have their papers.
We fattening calves keep our heads down and jaws chewing.
Talking of where we went, what we bought.
The voices ring inside my head. A bell going off.
Somewhere, I know, there are people who don't live in cages.
Later, sitting on the toilet, I see a huge black spider on the floor.
He stays still.
So still and poised I wouldn't have noticed him if he wasn't so big.
Still and quiet on the cold tiles,
He waits and watches,
Sensing with his dark skin and delicate legs.
Watching and waiting
Eternally patient.