You will need to state the reason for your visit.
Don’t say because I want to walk down the old roads
and caress the stone walls the color of my skin.
You will need to state the reason for your visit.
Don’t say because the olives are ready for harvest
and I will coax the fruit from the trees
press it into liquid gold.
You will need to state the reason for your visit.
Don’t say because my parents’ house
still sits empty on the bluff overlooking the sea,
the green shutters my grandfather had just painted are now sealed shut
and your government listed the property’s owners absentees.
You will need to state the reason for your visit.
Don’t say because I am carrying prayers in my suitcase
for people who you won’t let in and
when you’re not listening
I’m going to whisper them
into the heart of the land.
Previously published in The Lake Poetry Journal, UK, May 2014