Sooner or later,
we will make figure eights
over all the damage
they wrought
upon us,
and it will look
like all the times
we practiced
pretty cursive
in our notebooks
as children—
our government names
over and over,
perfecting our handwriting,
knowing we would
never reach the pinnacle,
but hoping,
through impression,
we could reach
perfection
for them.
Something they, too,
had wished for
as they signed
their names—
a wish,
a wish,
a wish
forced upon them
when their names were taken,
a new name
assigned.