Splitting Up the Move

By Ricardo Ruiz

My dad had papers and was able to

travel.

My uncle’s family didn’t have a car,

so they took ours.

I was sent with them.

Family & strangers,

alone again.

They’ll meet me over there I was

told.

By myself for a month without my parents,

now with two different families.

With no one to protect me.

Where even is Othello?

Copyright Credit: Ricardo Ruiz, "Splitting Up the Move" from We Had Our Reasons . Copyright © 2022 by Ricardo Ruiz. Reprinted by permission of Pulley Press.