F*@% the Patriots

The refugees of the world wear the clothes of an alternate reality. It’s the one where the Patriots lost every Super Bowl appearance. Just as the Aspen buds in the shadows of the Rockies begin to usher color, a wasteland forms halfway across the world. We complain about gas prices as we fill our cars for a weekend in the snow, by a warm fire, waiting for room service to deliver anything our hearts desire. There is no gas for the train going to Poland from Ukraine.

We experience the same reality. Like a survivor of horror, we learn to compartmentalize. Experiencing these horrors every day is too much. Dismembered bodies, children's screams, burnt flesh, and pulsing of cluster bombs. We have the choice not to live it, so we escape. And ignore it.

But for the unfortunate stuck in the other reality, the one we chose to ignore, they must compartmentalize, too. They have to. They can’t sleep because of the bombs. They can’t eat because of the blockades. But at least they live in the reality where the Patriots never won.