Ice Is Hiring

Your country needs you. Step up to a job
That makes America safe again. Work
For the premier institution where
Safety and public service go hand in hand.
Illegal immigrants and those who look
like them are overrunning our land
and taking away jobs in meat packing,
landscaping, car washes and field work,
jobs that Americans could and should do
after their nursing homes close and hunger gnaws.

Did you torture small animals in your youth?
Make use of your natural bent to get ahead.
Under our often-convicted president
You will be a law unto yourself.
We’re simplifying the requirements.
You won’t get bogged down in paperwork
Because there isn’t any. Your word rules
And you can send people to a fetid hole
Or some country they never knew before.
Break up families, disappear moms and dads.

We’ll cover for you, say grandma ran a gang.
How will it feel to be right and never wrong?
You’ll look great in your tactical gear,
Armed to the teeth as you whisk people away,
Drive the latest military vehicles
Or a junker with no plates, whatever works.
You will be your generation’s gestapo
And won’t have to jabber a word auf Deutsch.
Get into workplaces, courts, jobsites, schools.
Show up but never need to show your face.

John Jiambalvo is the author of two collections of poetry, Shadows Walking Among Questions and Americana Collection, as well as a satiric novel, Smirk. Read other articles by John.