Conversation With Immigration Officer

She looks at your papers.
She asks your husband to step out.
She asks you where your husband’s birthplace is.
She is testing you. You answer:

we were made in water in free-flowing

salt water rich with plankton

& we keep a fire

in our lungs it burns white

red in the center like a hibiscus

you must know we are all manic

you must know we are not ink

more than pencil-point residue

graphite …

She asks for the address of your current home.
You clear your throat and fold your hands on your lap.
Secretly, you imagine you have just met her
in a train, on the way to some undecidedly beautiful place.

we are living

in this continent for now

we had to leave paradise

when we became of age a common ritual

how about you? did you know this continent is but a well-rooted boat?

did you know roots are easy

to snap?

The officer has a catalog of potential questions in her eyes.
You are the last question mark inside that list.
She asks if you have committed any crimes.

i have lied before

my memories

& my world are always

being devoured

by bright lime groves

but i am committed to lie

with love

to live

i thought everyone

committed lies

& wants

She asks what you had for breakfast.
What your husband had for breakfast.
You smile at what could have been
a question asked by a friend.

i pressed pearly remains

of snow into my mouth

drop drop drop …

i didn’t share

he peeled & ate a secret

he didn’t share

either

But the officer doesn’t smile back.
She asks if you understand what she is saying.

i don’t dream in languages

only in prophecies

& whale songs

Your lawyer, sitting behind you,
says everything is going to be all right.

i believe stories

become real

when you hunger

yes, yes, don’t words make you want

to believe?

But she isn’t smiling either. You shiver.
The air conditioner is always too cold, too powerful
in this country.

see how inside my thorax

minute icicles

prickle and shake

slightly at each hiccup

no … yes … no …

The officer says you will hear from them
in a couple of months. She asks you to leave.
She asks your husband to step in.

yes