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The Transfer of Populations
- Minnesota Review
- Duke University Press
- Number 28, Spring 1987 (New Series)
- pp. 20-21
- Article
- Additional Information
20 the minnesota review Claudia Buckholts The Transfer of Populations Populations are moving over the maps, carrying bundles, what they saved from the war, the deluge, the ascent into power of men whose lips curve in a thin line. Shining tin handles stick out of their carts. The oxen are tired, the people have been marching for years, anyone can see them all over the maps. Heels slip into the trenches, hands bleed with old sores, children search for their parents in the burnt out camps. What heaved them up from their lives and set them marching? What shattered the furrow? What led them so far away? The ancestors' bones rest in the distant land. Children are given the ancient names: Goodearth, Newplace, Strong-treasure-ofjourneying. Some old folk tales remain to tell them where they come from but no one knows the country where they will arrive. The maps are dampened with rain, mold grows in the blue-flowing Buckholts 21 lines of rivers, the crosshatchings of trains fade out in this distance. No one can read the names of the stations they pass. Populations are moving over the map of the world. They might read this prayer: May rivers stand by them, mountains let them pass over, sun watch over their journey. ...