They

By Kate Delany

“They burned their own houses and ran away,” Myanmar police forces said of the Rohingya minorities fleeing burning villages, leaving behind all possessions and their dead.

They burn their own villages.
They won’t learn proper English.
They choose the Mommy track.
They choose to live like that.
They lie. They steal. They rape.
They weep and rage, hormonal,
their finger on the button. They
destroy the projects we build
them. They show up late.
They drop out. They sell drugs.
They come illegally. Look
what they wore. Look how
they acted. Look how what
where they worship. They just want
pity.attention. a pass. Believe me,
they aren’t like us.

Kate Delany is the author of two books of poetry, Reading Darwin (Poets Corner Press) and Ditching (Aldrich Press). Her fiction and verse have appeared in magazines and journals, such as Art Times, Barrelhouse, Jabberwock Review, Room, and Poetry Quarterly. She holds an MA in English from Rutgers-Camden and a BA in English and in Art History from Chestnut Hill College. She lives in Collingswood, New Jersey, with her husband and two children. She blogs about parenting, herbs, gardening, and sustainability at https://tigerseyebotanicalsblog.wordpress.com.