Border

I am 27 riding home
From my first weeks’ backpacking
Adventure into the Gila Wilderness
In western New Mexico where the
Ponderosa pines meet the
Aspen at 9,000 feet,
I ride with six other
Backpackers all
Exhausted.
We have driven
For ten hours from
The mountains across
The desert into El Paso where
The driver who is a dentist
Demands we drive into
Old Mexico so he can
Cross the border but
We get lost in South
Juarez where we
See a road sign,
Chihuahua
Ciudad
100k
So
We turn
Around until
We reach lights
Of yellow-green
And a burly man in
A green uniform who
Asks our tired dentist driver
If he is a native of this country
To which he flippantly replies
What the hell country is this?
The man in uniform turns
His US flag on his shirt
Sleeve for us to see
And says pull over
And get out of
The vehicle
Which the
Guards
Start
To
Disassemble
In the parking lot
As our dentist driver
Is invited to accompany
Several guards into their HQ,
We stand around for hours
Then he comes back and
Appears to have had a
Significant emotional
Event and tells us he
Doesn’t want to
Talk about it.
His vehicle
Is here
And
There,
We reassemble
Door panels and repack
Our camping gear then drive
Back to our motel then
The next morning we
Drive back to Austin
Where once out of
The vehicle we
Tease the
Dentist
Whose
Gruff responses
Are no cover for his
New respect for the border
Where humor is not
Appreciated by
Guards or his
Fellow
Passengers.
If you, gentle
Reader, ever
Cross such
A border
Beware
Of too
Easy
An attitude