R. Yael Weissburg

What is it like, I wonder, to know someone’s fate before they do?
To translate their future into existence?
To be its messenger?

One interpreter, I notice, speaks with eyes closed,
maybe to focus on the task at hand,
maybe to avoid the impact his words — not the judge’s —
have on the young woman just five feet away.

Another is attentive, with gentle eyes and a soft voice;
His imprecise translations a small act of defiance.

“Come forward. Sit down.”
“Good morning, ma’am. Please have a seat.”

“Is it true that you came here illegally?”
“Did you arrive without documentation?”

I want to hug him for this infinite kindness.

January 29, 2026

R. Yael Weissburg is an accompaniment volunteer in the San Francisco Bay Area, accompanying undocumented immigrants to their asylum hearings and ICE check-ins. A long-time lover of poetry, she was moved to begin documenting her experiences in the immigration enforcement system as a way to metabolize the grief and rage she experiences, and as a witness of its cruelty. These poems mark her first published work.

This poem appears in Uprooted: Poems of Resistance, Witness, and Survival (The Chaos Section Poetry Project, Fall 2026). We’re sharing each poem from the collection individually over the coming weeks. You can read the full book or download the free PDF here.