(un)documented
Matt Schroeder

from the moment
you (un)learned
fear for whoever
was knocking
at the door

each detail demanding
to be (un)remembered
as you fled down the
quick list of personal
identification in a tongue
only slightly (un)comfortable

just keep telling yourself
it’s only a matter of time
until they (un)accept you

until they realize you are
more than (un)qualified
to be here helping students
(un)learn the ways of the world

where                from a bus window
you cannot (un)watch the police
line up migrants whose only crime
is not looking the part
                                         the only difference
            as (un)real as it may seem
is how well you camouflage
you snowbird               you
mimic-mouth
                           is that you have
         liquid means by which
to wet their palms

but fear not           for
you cannot (un)wish
any harder the dream
that brought you here

or all the worry that
knows the soft-soil
of this new home
too well                          & as much as
                          you occasionally 
                         (un)wish it

you cannot (un)detonate
this fate that is yours
& yours alone

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Matt Schroeder is a poet and educator based in southern China. His poetry can be found in Thin Air Magazine, New World Writing, Welter Magazine, and forthcoming from Poet Lore & Invisible City Lit.

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