It Is Not Unnatural to Immigrate

The adults are crying
in the airport, so I cry too.

—

There’s a movement to life that birds
can’t shake. They leave for better
weather, for survival,
but they return.

Ask them to stay for twenty-two years,
and they wouldn’t consider it.

—

Twenty-two years ago, I stepped
onto an airplane and my tears stopped,
as if I’d been tired of the ground
and flying was the only remedy.

—

A seven-year-old does not know
why she cries, only that others are crying,
and she should join them.

Read more from Issue No. 20 or share on Twitter.