Those Border Niños Would Go Home, Too Poem by Donal Mahoney

The gossip started years ago
and ruined lives, burned everyone.
No one ever tried to stop it.

This Russian couple came to town
and carved a life from land
they had never seen.

They could have moved years ago
since money's not a problem.
The husband is an engineer,

the wife a psychotherapist.
Neighbors never speak to them,
never have, never will.

At the festival that summer,
the couple tried to meet neighbors
and struck an iceberg.

Elmo at the Dew Drop Inn recalls
'they liked hot dogs topped with kraut'
but 'they had heavy accents.'

Now Elmo and the neighbors swear
if they had sent the Russians packing,
those border niños would go home, too.