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It was painful how hungry we were.

from The Icebox and the Doghouse by Joshua Kirch

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lyrics

### Exhibit 5 (Woman)

I am 13 years old.
My Mother and I are from Honduras.

We left the country because my mom was working at a shop and they threatened her.

She was really scared and did not know what to do.
Eventually the place she worked shut down and so we were not able to afford living there
so we had to leave the country.

We presented ourselves at the border.
We were taken to what they call the Freezer.
There were no beds at all there
and everyone had to sleep on the cold cement.
I was able to have my mother with me the whole time
but many mothers were not able to
It was so cold where we were staying that we could not sleep or rest.
We were given small aluminum blankets.
One blanket was for me.
And one was for my mother.
We were not allowed to shower while we were there.
The toilets were very dirty.
Sometimes there was toilet paper
but sometimes there was not.
There was not usually water for us to wash our hands.
We did not have toothbrushes.

There was a small container of juice and sandwiches
that were very small.
We were very hungry.
It was painful how hungry we were.
The sandwiches they gave us were still frozen
When I tried to eat it it made me nauseous
So I was not able to eat it and neither was my mother.

It was extremely cold at this place
and we were not able to sleep
because of how cold it was.
The air conditioning was turned on very high
and it was pointed right above where I was sleeping

The lights were always on.
We were not given anything to clean ourselves or allowed to shower.

My mother and I were taken to another place where we were held for two days.

In "La Perrera" I was separated from my mother as we arrived.
I had to go to this other caged area where other children were.
I do not understand why, but whenever I would try to fall asleep
A police would come and kick me in my feet to wake me up.
Once I would wake up they would walk away.
We had sandwiches and they were still frozen like int he first place.
They only gave us water when it was breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
They only gave us small mats to sleep on
And all of the mats were touching side-by-side
so there was no room to relax my body.
I was able to shower one time that I stayed there.
They had towels and soap for us to use there.
It was so cold and I only had one shirt on.
After staying there for two days we were transported in a bus.
In the bus the police did not yell at us and they were nice.
I was not able to be with my mother again until we were in the bus.

credits

from The Icebox and the Doghouse, released April 24, 2020
Read by Elisa Abatsis

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Joshua Kirch Massachusetts

Joshua Kirch is a musician and composer who started with guitar, and soon moved to classical guitar and performing in a guitar trio; really enjoying the range of repertoire (especially the Renaissance pieces) available. This led him to learn the lute and cello.
His compositions mix electronic elements with classical and early music instruments and themes, as well as more standard rock and folk.
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