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      April 4, 2010Fred VossA Country in Our Hearts

      On machine #5 Juan

      forgets
      and says, “Thank you, my friend!”
      with genuine unashamed child-like joy
      when I come over unasked to grab one end of the heavy vise and help him
      lift it
      onto his machine table.
      Then he remembers
      and looks around himself to see if any of the other machinists have seen
      or heard him
      and puts the same mask of callous indifference they all wear
      back on his face.
      It has been only 5 years since he left El Salvador to set foot
      in America
      and sometimes it is hard to keep the mask
      on his face.
      “Fleetwood Mac!”
      he calls me
      because I have long hair and a beard but no hair
      on top of my head like that guy in the rock band Fleetwood Mac
      and smiles
      and tells me
      how he likes to sit in a soft easy chair each evening after work and listen
      to rock music
      that knows no borders
      and with our hands on wrenches
      I look
      over from machine #2 at him and break out
      in a big beaming smile
      just to show him
      that when it comes to wrenches
      and vises and machine tables
      and the joy
      still shining inside a human heart
      there will never be
      any borders.

      from #22 - Winter 2004