Lisa Birman
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excerpts from:

For That Return Passage
a Valentine for the United States of America

 

Preface: an invitation to stay   There is the choosing of a country and the choosing of a person. The falling in love, the making of promises, the seeing and the looking away. There is the not being sure, the staying or not staying, the choosing again. There is the searching for the one – the person and the place. There is the desire to be chosen and the thrill of the chase. I courted a country. Five years of batting my eyelashes on paper. Five years of unrequited, of loving enough for the both of us. February 14, 2006. A proposal arrives. “Welcome to the United States of America.” “This is to notify you that your application for permanent residence status has been approved.” Five years of playing hard to get. It is possible to fall into geography, as it is possible to fall in love. Falling in and falling out. Every question I ask of the United States is a question of love. New York will always be New York and it is possible to love it twice or not at all, and in that sense it is no different from Colorado. My beloved is a figment. Geography being a person and not a person. A person being a landscape. And how it changes, the person and the landscape. Like weather, like a forecast. I am unsure. All the same questions. I love you. Do I love you enough? You are not who I thought you were. I love you still. Are you the one?     Sonnet for borders   this is where I draw the line across your body this sand and mine this ache of ashes this memory where you were where I am no longer a question between holding and not holding between breath and want     Sonnet for the Republic   I am trying to give an account a record of my folly the confusion of tongues how things become this is a love letter a Valentine my never till death do we part this cleaving this gathering of keys impossible alphabets of marriage I do not wish to turn your head quietly, I cannot pledge       Sonnet for commitment   I do I do I pledge I take I Lisa Birman take you I do in sickness and I Lisa Birman do swear to honour and obey I do. I swear.       The Key   This is a true story. When I returned, he gave me a key to the United States. It is a simple uncut key that looks just like the American flag. I have not yet used it to open a door. It has been used to open conversations with strangers. I do not and have not referred to it as Old Glory. It is not so much the Stars and Stripes. It is my key to you. My means of understanding. You should hand them out at the border. You should send them overseas.       US-VISIT: How It Works   In many cases, US-VISIT begins overseas, at the US consular offices issuing visas, where visitors’ biometrics (digital fingerscans and photographs) are collected and checked against a database of known criminals and suspected terrorists. When the visitor arrives at the port of entry, we use the same biometrics – digital fingerscans – to verify the person at our port is the same person who received the visa. What can I expect when I arrive in the US? Once at the port of entry you will find that many of the procedures remain unchanged and are familiar to you. For example, a US Customs and Border Protection Officer still reviews your travel documents, such as a visa and passport. The officer still asks you questions about your stay in the US. What’s new under US-VISIT is that the US Customs and Border Protection Officer now uses the inkless, digital fingerscanner to capture two of your fingerscans. You first place your left index finger and then your right index finger on the scanner. The officer also takes your digital photograph. These procedures add only seconds to the overall processing time.       Fingerprint Instructions for All Immigration Benefits Applicants      1. Do not submit a completed fingerprint card (FD-258) with your application. Your application will be accepted without the fingerprint card attached. If you submit a completed fingerprint card with your application on or after March 29, 1998, the card will be rejected and you will be scheduled to be fingerprinted by USCIS.    2. Do submit fee, in addition to the application fee, payable to USCIS, with your application. The fee is noted at the top of our Forms and Fees page. This charge will cover the cost for you to be fingerprinted by USCIS.    3. After USCIS receives your application, USCIS will provide you with an appointment letter with the location of the nearest USCIS authorized fingerprint site. Please read the instructions in the appointment letter, and take it to USCIS authorized fingerprint site when you go to your fingerprint appointment.     Homeland: advice for citizens               Preserving our freedoms             protecting America             we secure             our homeland it was almost Poland Germany Israel France it could have been Belarus it could have been Russia or any of the Russias             the country of birth             be/longing             as in, security             as in, department             it could have been Canada it could have been England                            home base             home bound             Homeland             homeless             homemade             home run             home stretch it could have been you       what you are not (and where   the reef inside / my chest not blue / not as far as eye can see                                                 not girt not by             you are rugged              I grant you you are mountains and ranges                                                 you are not the only one             the song is false             as I am false             and you I recognize your rains                this lack that which is gold and that         which is red                                                 you are incomplete)                                                 as I we look away / we neither as brown or as green                as desire             but still             I would have you                                                 and do       I don’t want to want   you with your landscape curved against my landscape, how we nook and cranny one into the other how we hand in hand in glove or love or something like the ocean which is where I would have you, again       Sonnet for staying             here: in, at, or to the place where you are at a place near you used to draw attention to a particular point or stage a situation happening at the present time somebody is offering something to somebody people in general and their life on Earth       Sonnet for leaving               there: a place already mentioned or understood an emphasis an identity a something a somebody that is to say somebody exists something can be seen such as anger satisfaction, finality relief       There are only two signs:   “This line US citizens only”                                                                “Visitors”                                                                                                                 I am the middle road                                                             I am the lack of                                                             a door