Another short, sharp poem by Maltese author Immanuel Mifsud, taken from the collection Fid-Dar ta’ Clara (At Clara’s Place), 1998.
The “Antarctica World Passport” shown in the photograph, designed by Ellen Gögler and Nadine Postel and made possible by Studio Orta, is available here.
At the Arrivals of Heathrow Airport
I await my turn passport in hand
for you to scan the photo and my face
and allow me to pass
so I can begin living
Translated into English by Antoine Cassar
Immanuel Mifsud‘s poetry appears in many anthologies, including New European Poets (Graywolf Press) and The World Record (Bloodaxe Books). Mifsud was awarded the EU Prize of Literature in 2011 for In the Name of the Father (and of the Son), a part-essay, part-memoir on fatherhood. Nadja Mifsud’s French translation will be published by Gallimard in 2015.