State Lines
Chris Ellery
July 17, 2022
The U.S. post office in my hometown straddles the state
line, half in Arkansas and half in Texas.
In front of the building, where my father worked,
you can stand with one foot in
each state, as I did many times.
This was the first I knew of borders.
On the ground between my legs
the line I saw on the map was a lie.
Once when my mother was early to pick Dad up
from the graveyard shift, me and my brother killed
the time walking laps around the Texarkana Post
Office for half an hour.
We visited each state at least a dozen times, never, as far
as I know, unwelcome in either.
I’ve crossed other borders since then where
the line on the map was worse than a lie,
a bloody lie. Walls, barbed wire, barricades.
And well-armed men on either side
who search your bags,
who never seem to smile,
who never say,
“You are welcome.”
Chris Ellery, now living in San Angelo, was born and raised in the "Twice as Nice" Twin Cities of Texarkana, Arkansas-Texarkana, Texas. He is the author of The Big Mosque of Mercy, a collection of poems based on his residence in Syria and travels in the Middle East.
