By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes
NEVER HOME AGAIN
Two months after Europe
I boarded a westbound plane
for map coordinates
that used to be home
Three hours of shuffling
through the labyrinth of London’s
border bureaucracy
to obtain the minotaur’s stamp
I was approved
for a one night layover in a $400 bed
where Dickens probably died
hallucinating tales of another city
In the morning
with ten minutes in the British Museum
I absorbed the Elgin Marbles
lifted from the Parthenon
paraded before victors
Then the express train to Heathrow
in line to board my flight to the U.S.
I was pulled by American TSA agents
for a “random security screening”
I watched as my carry-on bag
was emptied onto two metal tables
contents examined
cell phone scanned
body patted down
then seated in a section of plane
reserved
for “randomly searched” travelers
Across the aisle
the 50-year-old blonde American wept
because in 30 years of traveling
she had never been frisked
She drowned her tears
in a dozen miniature bottles of vodka
until she passed out over Greenland
I wondered about my own shakedown
could it be random
if my name appeared
on a computer print out
prior to getting on the aircraft?
Could flying be safe
if further search was necessary
after barefoot walks
through metal detectors?
Since the 1978 PSA crash over North Park
I have been afraid to fly
but for this flight I sat 12 hours
In terror
Hunkered down
for our landing in San Diego
where automated machines check passports with facial recognition software
And watched in disbelief
as the high-tech gadget
spit out a receipt
rejecting my travel documents
with a black X
marked through my photograph
Not ever told why
simply released from the terminal
into downtown’s sterile architecture
to never feel at home again
Latest posts by Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes (see all)
- Word’s Out | Geo-Poetic Spaces - December 14, 2018
- Political Love Affair | Geo-Poetic Spaces - December 7, 2018
- Deer Tracks | Geo-Poetic Spaces - November 30, 2018
I had to read this twice and listen once more to absorb how awful, how painfully awful your experience was. I used to love the idea of traveling, but now, I would rather grow old without ever going through that screening process again.
A very few years ago my Mom and I were flying to Portland, Oregon. There were 3 of us who were singled out on that plane to be searched after landing, surprise, surprise all of us had the same last name, Israel. I asked the security person how come we were being searched and her answer was ” just a random check”. Ha, ha,ha, sure.!!!!! I have never forgotten that and know it was not random.