He ran away, skipped town, bolted the chains
that kept the rest of us rowing in the hold.
Soon no one remembered his many names.
Because he ran away, skipped town, bolted the chains,
all deeds declared him dead, erased his number and his names.
The state will not forgive his ghost that saunters in one day from the cold:
no pension for him that ran away, skipped town, bolted the chains
that kept all the rest of us rowing in the hold.

—Luisa A. Igloria