My brain is in dissolve

My brain is in dissolve

The walls, in retreat

Pushing in

Pulsing out

I am in

Defence mode.

Clinics are full to the brim

With the hopeful

The hopeless

Serial applicants

Supplicants

Waiting for permission

To enter.

Visas are conditional

Read the chart

Steady your heart

Whip off your shirt

Breath in

Out.

The walls ripple

With every breath

White wash

White boards

Warning signs.

The lockers are digital

Whatever happened to brass keys

Don’t forget the code

Confusion

Is a no-no.

Where you have come from

Is more important

Than where you were born

For all who may enter

There is a checklist

A bar chart

A height chart,

We are held in the balance

Weighed and found wanting.

Smiling is forbidden

There is nothing funny

About judgement

Ticking the boxes

Making the cut

Mug shots

Are with you forever.

It is a sorry story

For the illegal,

The refused.

The discarded

Leave by a different door

Where do they go

I wonder

When there is no return

No entry

No reply.

Thank goodness

I am swept clean

I have passed

My battery

Of senses

With enough lead

In my pencil

To count my blessings.

I am declared human

Oh lucky man

And I can stay

In this country

Until the times change.