The letters arrive like weather without warning.
We have decided…
further evidence required…
decision pending…
Each sentence colder than January wind
inside rooms already trained in coldness.
I begin to fear the paper more than the weather.
My life becomes a filing system:
bank statements, tenancy agreements, proof of breathing. Right to rent checks, and all sorts.
I imagine the officials on the other side
sipping tea while my entire future
waits in their inbox.
Laughing about Liverpool and Man City game,
When my life like a football team,
Is being played by their decisions.
Sometimes I dream of replying:
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am also a country.
I also have borders that hurt when crossed too often.
But dreams are not evidence.
So I wait.
Because waiting is the only visa
that never expires.
***Chukwudi Echendu is a writer with focus on sharing his experiences through poetry and fictional writing. His first collection, 48 Thoughts You Should Read,gives an identity to his craft.