Home: it’s a hallway receding
to the vanishing point
behind me, and ahead preceding:
I’ll live as an immigrant.

To the vanishing point
of my patience,
I’ll live as an immigrant
in a warren of streets and fences.

Of my patience
I demand too much, too fast,
in a warren of streets and fences
only a rabbit could grasp.

I demand too much, too fast,
in a language that sticks to my teeth.
Only a rabbit could grasp
my forsaken predicament, one no longer so fleet.

In a language that sticks to my teeth
I endeavor not to resent
my forsaken predicament.  One no longer so fleet
am I, a boat against the current.

I endeavor not to resent
the time that floats.
Am I a boat against the current?
Myself in exile gropes

the time that floats
behind me. And ahead preceding
myself in exile, gropes
home: it’s a hallway receding.

© Lisa Foster, May 2005

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Lisa Foster is owner of 1 Bag at a Time www.1bagatatime.com, a company committed to supplying the very best in reusable bags for the American market and to promoting public awareness about how individuals can make a positive difference in the world by switching to reusable bags.  Foster started 1 Bag at a Time in 2005 after she discovered reusable bags in Australia and learned how disposable bags contribute to global warming. Her vision is an America where consumers have a choice of attractive and affordable bags to take with them everywhere.  Foster has a Ph.D. from USC, and her dedication to the environment is long standing.  For questions or comments about this article, email info@1bagatatime.com.