With an earnest look
Clara offers the
fragment of amber
to the Kapo.
Will it be enough
to trade for an extra
crust of bread
a piece of potato in the
watery soup?
Within the gold resin
an insect caught
by sticky sap.
Another inmate trapped
in a bubble of gas.
Jan Chronister teaches writing at a tribal college in Minnesota. Her work appears regularly in regional and national publications.