BORDER, from the Middle English bordure, meaning “the decorative band
surrounding a shield,” a heraldic device intended to identify
possession — this flag flies over that land, & so this land belongs
to… But before belong became “to be the property of,”
there was no belonging: belong simply meant “to go along with,”
as if to be told a joke that goes on too long. Both long & belong
derive from the Old English langian — “to yearn after, grieve for,
be pained, lengthen” as hours & distance do, both stretching
long past where borders mark their end. Borders are only
a device, after all, & device comes from the French devis, meaning “an expressed intent or desire; a plan or design,” design indicating not art but intentions, which we find
in the Latin divido, “to divide.” A continent is divided
into countries — country coming from the Latin contra,
“opposite, against,” as if to be of one place is to be
against another, or perhaps against all others,
property & possession of the flag whose shadow stretches
long across its land. Which side of the border you’re born on
defines where it is you belong, what devis & designs
are allowed to you, in which direction you yearn.
In which direction do you yearn? Does your country’s flag
wrap around you like an embrace or a shroud?
Decorate or divide you? There are only ever two options —
where you are or somewhere else —
but the border’s blade between slices them into infinite
cruelties, so thin you can see straight through
to the other side.
Added: Friday, March 14, 2025 / Used with permission.
Jaz Sufi (she/hers) is a queer Iranian-American poet and arts educator. Her work has been published or is upcoming in Best New Poets, Best of the Net, AGNI, Black Warrior Review, Muzzle, and elsewhere. She is a National Poetry Slam finalist and has received fellowships from Kundiman, the Watering Hole, and New York University, where she received her MFA. She is the Poet Laureate of San Ramon, CA, where she lives with her dog, Apollo.
Image Description: Jaz is sitting on the steps of a mausoleum on a sunny day with the blue sky behind her. She is light-skinned with black hair and is wearing a black tank top, black ripped jeans, and a black-and-white striped sunhat with red lipstick.
