These colors signal safety, but I\u2019m not so sure.
\nIn customs and immigration, bright lights
\ntwinkle above. No photos allowed
\nin this cavernous arena of desperation.<\/p>\n
Welcome home, says the suit, daring me
\nto make a false move, as I reach
\nfor my magic ticket.
\nFreedom an acrid taste, a stinging question.<\/p>\n
Bleary-eyed, my skin one touch away
\nfrom bursting. A river of conflicting emotions
\nthreatens overflow. Roast beef crimson cheeks
\nbely my state. Eyeballs smudged gray
\nwith transatlantic smog, I walk obediently
\ntowards destiny. U.S. citizens
\nright this way!<\/p>\n
My smile curling like a dehydrated fern,
\nMy jaw is gritted\u2014I\u2019m ready for the dentist.
\nOpen wide! Teeth no longer glistening,
\nmy tongue a dull ivory.<\/p>\n
Powerlessness has an itchy quality.
\nYou feel boundaries everywhere:
\nThe spot where your panties
\nmeets your groin, your sock band too tight
\nor slipping down into your shoe.
\nMy knuckles grip the handles
\nof my purple carry-one,
\nAs if to say:
\nThis much is still within my grasp.<\/p>\n
Indigo streams pulsing on my inner wrists.
\nI try to breathe it out, but the stinger
\nburies deeper. Where did this apple come from?
\nRed, shiny, and forbidden.
\nI should not have been honest
\nabout the smuggled fruit.<\/p>\n
It is in the small things where the snake
\nslips in. My luggage now open,
\nrevealing my dirty laundry,
\nMy hidden habits, and private priorities.
\nLatex gloves gently caressing my life.
\nThese gifts and tokens of my explorations
\nBeyond the borders of the land of the free
\nNow seem a liability.
\nAnd so, I learn to keep secrets
\nfrom the motherland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
These colors signal safety, but I\u2019m not so sure. In customs and immigration, bright lights twinkle above. No photos allowed in this cavernous arena of desperation. Welcome home, says the suit, daring me to make a false move, as I reach for my magic ticket. Freedom an acrid taste, a stinging question. Bleary-eyed, my skin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":17778,"template":"","categories":[49,11],"class_list":["post-17777","stsp_text","type-stsp_text","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-21","category-lyrik"],"yoast_head":"\n