A Tale Of Two Laredos Poem by Chen-ou Liu

A Haibun


The fireman from Nuevo Laredo looks at the body, muttering, “This is the 6ooth body I’ve pulled out of the Rio Grande.” There is noisy silence between the two of us as I turn and see a long line of trucks crossing into Texas. We continue to make our way downriver and, upon turning a bend, I see a boy and his dog caught in branches at the river’s edge.

one howl, then many …
the imprint of an eagle
on the winter sky