BORDER INSPECTION

“It’s your lucky day”
He said
“Why?”
I asked

“The computer randomly
Selected you for inspection”

He said it with such grace
A nice old timer
A good gentle—man
About my father’s age
Nearing retirement
He had dark skin
Like I do
He smiled
Like I sometimes do

“Open the trunk”
He asked
I got out of my car

He did not
Got uptight
Nor placed his hand
On his pistol
Like others do

I inserted the key
I pressed right
I heard that
Familiar click
He just smiled
And kept smiling

Maybe he was thinking
About his retirement
Maybe he was thinking
With his heart
And not with his mind
So happy and relaxed
This was no Prozac

This was wisdom amongst the smog
A pearl in the middle
Of contaminated clusters
Of metal, oil, and plastic

“Maybe the computer likes to pick on
good—looking fellows like you”
He said with his enduring
Fraternal smile

For the first time
After 35 years
Of crossing the borders
Of my two countries
I happily drove
To secondary inspection