from Deaf Republic: 11 Poem by Ilya Kaminsky

It is December 8 and my brother Tony was killed by the soldiers. December 8 and the police are reopening the Southern Trolleyways. December 8 when my wife lifts Tony's body from the ground, his arm tied over her shoulder—her face is damp, her hair dirty. And the soldiers unveil the damn Trolleyways, and I stand feeling (a quick march of bumps across my back and thighs) nothing.

When she comes home, I run a bath for Sonya and wash her hair, gently mixing the finest of my brother's shampoos with quiet precision, while Sonya cries and cries.