Linda Dove: “This poem addresses the separation of families and detention of refugees, asylum-seekers, and border-crossers from Central America to the U.S. In particular, it tries to address white privilege and unexamined citizenship in the face of what’s happening right now to these migrant communities—the way that American whiteness takes so much for granted about its own position in the history of this region. By the way, the story about the jar is true—I was hiking in Organ Pipe National Monument in 2000 and found a jar stuck between some rocks off the trail. I thought it was trash, but it turned out to be a time capsule someone had left in 1968 and others who had stumbled across it had added to over the years. I assume it’s still there, although it means something very different to me now than it did back then.” (web)
