A travel guide I wrote

When You Are Crossing Borders

When you are crossing borders

Do not consider the wet mop

Dancing at your feet

Resort to stories you can tell

The weather, the souvenirs

When you are crossing borders             

People run across the freeway                

Waiting at the median, staring in

You’ve seen the way they look

Edited, in magazines, but this

When you are crossing borders

Diesel, needles, pus and sorrows

Are not allowed in the hotel

Down at your book, translations

Of drinks they don’t drink

When you are crossing borders

Grab your child’s hand tightly

So she can feel your pulse

Teach her lessons, conversations

She will never have

When she is crossing borders