Local Time
Someone told me we are altered
whenever we cross the international
dateline. Subtle shifting, self-migrating,
transitions at 34,000 feet.
A few hours ago, places: Batangas,
Laguna, Cavite, Denpasar, Nagoya,
Okinawa. Names and syllables signifying
a continent’s humble contents.
Who was I then? The woman who decided
to cross a border and keep on crossing?
Erasing lines that blur and bind.
Her and here to one thing or other?
Honolulu. Juneau. Seattle. Portland. San Francisco.
Passing through. Vessel containing no longer bearing —
who? Woman who boarded but did not arrive.
New and not new. In my heart’s map:
Caracaran, Rawis, Legazpi, Manila. You.
Stars and loss and longing, too. Lines I draw and
redraw. Misty, out of focus woman coming through.
whenever we cross the international
dateline. Subtle shifting, self-migrating,
transitions at 34,000 feet.
A few hours ago, places: Batangas,
Laguna, Cavite, Denpasar, Nagoya,
Okinawa. Names and syllables signifying
a continent’s humble contents.
Who was I then? The woman who decided
to cross a border and keep on crossing?
Erasing lines that blur and bind.
Her and here to one thing or other?
Honolulu. Juneau. Seattle. Portland. San Francisco.
Passing through. Vessel containing no longer bearing —
who? Woman who boarded but did not arrive.
New and not new. In my heart’s map:
Caracaran, Rawis, Legazpi, Manila. You.
Stars and loss and longing, too. Lines I draw and
redraw. Misty, out of focus woman coming through.
January / February 2023
Cynthia Buiza is the Executive Director of the California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC). She earned a master’s degree in International Affairs from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, with a concentration on human security studies. She also holds certificates from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Cynthia currently serves as a California State Commissioner with the Little Hoover Commission and the CA100. Her debut poetry collection, The Future Is a Country I Do Not Live in, was released by Paloma Press in August 2022.
Art: Kimberlee Frederick. Better Than Biting My Tongue? Digital Collage, 2022