As I was sorting it all out,
I found among my brother’s papers
his passport application, completed.
And official photos shot
a year before he died.
He must have been two pinched to file.
Whereas I am flush, I realize,
thus properly documented.
Border crossings, customs, proof
of citizenry? No problem.
Just this summer
on my first trip north
I crossed the border via Lewiston-Queenston,
heading to Lake Erie’s Pelee National Park.
I returned across the border,
same bridge to stateside,
then west to Niagara Falls,
Niagara County, New York.
Next week I’ll cross the border
on the Thousand Island Bridge
into Ontario, Canada, again.
Week after that, I’ll return across the border
out of Kingston, ferry to Wolfe Island,
from there ferry to Cape Vincent, USA.
This summer I travel lighter.
His ghost can’t cross
the borderline to life.
2024-01-01