Upon Arrival

You will need to state the reason for your visit. Don’t say because I want to walk down old roads and caress 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 a bluff overlooking the sea, the green shutters my grandfather had just painted remain sealed shut and the army listed the property’s owners as absentees. You will need to state the reason for your visit. Don’t say because I am carrying prayers in my suitcase for a people who wait, and I’ll unfold them embroidered linens of verse and spread them out across the land.