The border agent was rabid
young
shiny black boots
but lost my esteem when
my retorts were scratched onto
a scrap of dirty paper,
placed on her knee, above
her sheeny polished boots
I was held captive
in the enclosure at Arrivals
The only white person
the only blond.
A dark woman sat with her children
a white roll shared between them
Rueful observation:
white might be favorable sometimes
but it wasn't going to help me
out of this corner
and it wasn't going to nurture her children.
I offered my bags of raisins and nuts
to a cherub with tears and fear on its face
and covertly phoned my friends
to tell them I wouldn't be coming.
Not for a very long time.
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