Immigration line – Trifecta entry

Trifecta is addictive.. and this week I wrote a little experiment in poetry.

The word is DELIBERATE as in:
3: slow, unhurried, and steady as though allowing time for decision on each individual action involved

From wikimedia commons

From wikimedia commons


Inside boiling
with my pounding heart
slowly sluggish movements
sweat stains on my paper-work
flickering fluorescent lamps
immigration officers
deliberate
investigate
I recall the genocide
the family I might have lost
within this crowd I am alone
I am anonymous like all the rest
we share the same experience
and everyone have lost a home
once again I read my paper-work
hope they are correct enough
I can’t recall the things I say
but finally I’m through
and meet a smile
I’m home



May 14, 2013

40 responses to “Immigration line – Trifecta entry

  1. You’ve done an excellent job capturing the anxiety and tension that everyone standing in that line must feel. Good buildup. Just when I thought he was going to be detained, he made it!

  2. Thanks. I had to read this. I and my family are in the process of moving to France. We’ve been through the consulate and been granted long stay visas. Not so harrowing as this but tense.

  3. It would be terrifying to be in a situation like this. I’ve never really thought about what an awful feeling it would be to be hunted. The shape of the words could be a footprint left behind or even a body. I love your originality, Bjorn.

  4. I adore this, the flow of the words, the physical shape of the poem. Did you use deliberate as an adj or verb? (I only ask because I had to think about the pronunciation and flow differently.) loved it.

    • it’s intended to be an adjective but I think grammatically it might have been more correct to use the adverb… But I took the poetic freedom of using the wrong form. I wanted deliberate be around the neck, to put emphasis on a strangling feeling.

  5. I’m really impressed. Your poem not only beautifully describes an experience, it creates a visual shape. That’s just super-cool. Kudos!

  6. As another said, I love the shape of the poem, and the happy ending, the perennial issue – that maybe we’ll never get right. But we can hope for common sense and a kindly presence. Great piece, Bjorn.

  7. Very intense piece! I love the structure you used, which I feel really adds to the tension. Great job with the prompt!

  8. Very powerful. My mother grew up in Germany during WW2 and escaped from east to west Germany. This reminded me of her own real stories of her life. Wonderful piece.

      • Her entire life from child to adult is really filled with many stories that feel like a movie. Unfortunately many went through those times. She told her stories over and over so we would appreciate what we have and hope we never go through.

  9. A delight to read (shape and substance)! The first part – all that tension, reminded me of renewing work permits, the second of going home. Now I always try to land in Boston, where they (customs officials) invariable give me a big smile and a Welcome Home!

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