Midnight Influx, a Poem by Patrick Morgan

Whose borders these are

I do not know

the walls are in our minds though

where human lives are measured

in tsunamis and surges

faces of asylum seekers

erased by political urges.

For we are a nation dancing

to the tune of concertina wire

spiraling bodies in a midnight flux

of fear

stomping to the squelch and slap

of soggy feet

crossing rivers on blowup mattresses

by midnight

water hyacinth tickling our knees

as we kickboard our lives

across imaginary lines

our hearts tied up in plastic bags

drifting out to sea.

---

Patrick Morgan is a Louisiana-based writer originally from Watertown, New York.  His poems have appeared or are appearing in, among other venues, the Catholic Poetry Room and Footnote: A Literary Journal of History.  His writings about poetry can be found in We Are Already One: Thomas Merton's Message of Hope: Reflections to Honor His Centenary (Fons Vitae), The Pocket Instructor: Literature (Princeton University Press), and The Pocket Instructor: Writing (Princeton University Press).