One harlequin day you granted me a visa:
access unlimited, no territories denied.
Proud as a viceroy I strode through your frontier,
safe as night was long and day was wide.
Our carol in unison pealed above the treescape;
like mercury we skittered in delirious dance
past guards who grinned and gave us the thumbs-up
then returned to dealing the crimson cards of chance.
Time passed in glory until - the faintest inkling -
a dust of reluctance before you met my arms.
I was a Geiger counter for any cooling
but was, thank Christ, mistaken. A lover’s fond alarms.
Today I had my visa checked by a guard I’d never seen.
‘Nothing to worry about, sir. Merely routine.’