Poem – The Flight Home

 

With a heavy heart, I waved goodbye.

To Suriname, Herman’s home in an Amazonian sky.

Military takeover, chaos, and fear.

I had to leave, but I still shed a tear.

 

The airport was packed, the lines were long.

So many people, in the heat, trying to get along.

To a flight that would take them far.

Away from the violence, the unrest, the bizarre.

 

No direct flights to America, I was told.

I had to jump, airport to airport, and be bold.

I left Paramaribo for Port of Spain.

Then Aruba, then Curacao, still in a plane.

 

The Bahamas was my next stop,

I finally reach Miami. It felt like a sweatshop.

But even that was not the end of my day.

Atlanta, then Dallas, my nerves were frayed.

 

24 hours of travel, exhaustion, and stress.

But I was grateful, I knew I was blessed.

To be going home to safety and peace.

To start anew and let the trauma release.

 

But I was hiding a secret, a jungle parasite.

In the pores of my skin, sitting on an endless flight

I could not itch. I had to pretend all was well.

Otherwise going through customs, would become a hell.

 

This was an amazing journey that I took.

An incredible story for my scrapbook.

I made it home, and though I had been very scared.

I thanked the angels and was grateful that I had dared.

~Suzanne Wagner~