We each are emigrants

from different countries,

tenderly invading

each others’ hearts.

 

This both frightens

and delights us at

different geographic points

in our respective life maps.

 

As one would expect

there are sometimes skirmishes,

even battles; monuments are

commissioned for all-out wars.

 

The question has become:

can our battle-weary hearts

sustain another tender invasion?

Frankly, I’m beginning to wonder.

 

I’m sure, in the end, it depends

upon a willingness to open our borders.

 

J. Eicher, 2017