Upon Arrival

a poem by  LENA KHALAF TUFFAHA

Upon Arrival

You will need to state the reason for your visit.

Don’t say because I want to walk down old roads

and caress stone walls the color of my skin.

You will need to state the reason for your visit.

Don’t say because the olives are ready for harvest

and I will coax the fruit from the trees,

press it into liquid gold.

You will need to state the reason for your visit.

Don’t say because my parents’ house

still sits empty on a bluff overlooking the sea,

the green shutters my grandfather had just painted

remain sealed shut

and the army listed the property’s owners

as absentees.

You will need to state the reason for your visit.

Don’t say because I am carrying prayers in my suitcase

for a people who wait,

and I’ll unfold them

embroidered linens of verse

and spread them out across the land.

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha is an Arab American poet, essayist, and translator. She is the author of three books of poetry, including Kaan and Her Sisters (Trio House Press, 2023), Something About Living (University of Akron Press, 2023), and Water & Salt (Red Hen Press, 2017).

[Editor’s Note: this was shared with me in an email sent by the Society of Friends (the Quakers), whose Meeting House is down the street from mine.]