The Immigrant

If things were to be
The way I would wish them to be

Would I be

An illegal immigrant
In your heart

Snuck across the borderline
When the sky was low and starless
Snipping the barbed fence
That your lacerated hands
Had mended
Times beyond telling

Or fooling your stern and vigilant
Border guard with my
Fraudulent credentials

Would you
Have me detained and deported
Banished
Never to return
An undesirable

And what if

I were a refugee
From a shadowless desert
Of dried rivers and
Stagnant oases

Who wanted simply
To lie somnolent
In the shade of you
Breathing the scent
Of nameless flowers
On the soft steady wind
From the hinterland
Of your heart

Would you
Grant me asylum

And what if
I learned your language
With faultless tone
And sang your anthem
With perfect melody
And bowed my head
Towards your banner
Shimmering in that wind

Would you

Grant me citizenship

That is

If things were to be
The way I would wish them to be