My friends say it’s so much easier –
They put their hand under the black scanner
And take what they like from the department.
At the doctor, the night nurse touches their
Forehead, not for fever, but for it, and
In the Braille there, she gets the accurate
History.  Who could oppose this, you ask?
I am trading tubers today under
The tarp.  If they catch me, the gulag guards
Have a long cot for me, and they will drill
It into my skull by force.  Even if
You don’t want the spuds, don’t point to me, please.
Why do I resist the arrest, you ask?
There are parts of me that are still holy.

About the Author

The opera for which Anne Babson wrote the libretto, Lotus Lives, opened in New York in May 2010 and is now touring as part of the repertory of Meridian Arts Ensemble. Anne won the Columbia Journal Prize and the Artisan Journal contest, and was nominated for both 2001 and 2005 Pushcarts for work appearing in The Haight Ashbury Literary Journal and Ilya’s Honey.

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