32. To the Stars Through Difficulty: Anne Haehl

This river brought my city here.
The Kaw carried people in on rafts—
they pulled out the rafts to build shanties.
The native people memorialized in a two-headed statue
didn’t even get $24 and a set of beads for this land.
Follow the trail by the river now,
you’ll see the tents that the homeless throw up.
Camping in the park is not legal.
Can’t have shanties in our fair city
Uninvited intruders should leave.
— Anne Haehl