paralysis

My back hurts, but feelin' good, well, ok
I am
~ ~ ~ 'cept
oh that damn form
the form that wants the documentation
to prove
I am
h~~e~~r~~e
&
I'm no less than m~~e

but paperless, unable to prove
I came over that damn border
with thoro legality

but reduced to this little room
because of illness

and no room under the cardtable
on which Krowbrain sits
can't even stretch legs
oh well

so I move boxes
out from under the cardtable
to mack at my iMac

into the hall, which the
landlady hates
my stuff in the hall

so I move the boxes
into the very large kitchen
and put a not-too-brite
not-loud neatly-designed
patterned wrapping paper over
the top

so my stuff is marked off
from boxes destined
for throw-out
into the garbage

until one day
I notice gone
all gone
the three stacked little
boxes with the patterned paper
as a sign of belonging
personally to me not garbage

I race down to the landlady's
door, knock, opens, I'm looking
in
and begging for my boxes
with the patterned paper on
top

and there I see the landlord
at one of my boxes
having stripped
everything they don't want
but but
where's my pictures of my mother
and sister and brother
all gone,
I try to say thru the screen of
English to the ears of Chinese landlord
and lady
where's my documentation
my proof of my existence
my immigration
my birth certificate
my identification
gone
I'm all gone into paperlessness

and now they say they
want to give me Old Age
benefits, but to get
a little check, or you could
spell it "cheque"

to get a little check I
have to have
the documentation to prove
I'm not somebody else
not a terrorista
not an illegalista
not a tourista wanting a longer fiesta

but I'm paperlessness
and paralyzed


© Owlb