Immigrants

by Yoon Ha Lee

Paper airplanes are not
just a pastime,
or a summering
of angles and aspirations
to that fruiting sun.

Paper airplanes
are ripped out from books
weighted by alphabets
and abjads.

Paper airplanes
leave fluttering scraps
in the spines.

And they fly—
when they fly—
never in a straight
line.

Spread them flat, if
you care to,
but the creases
still cut
across the page.

Even when they circle
back home, the only books
they fit into
are written on
the sky.

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Yoon Ha Lee's poetry has appeared in Strange Horizons, Mythic Delirium, and The Magazine of Speculative Poetry.  Her home is filled with letters from many places.

Photography: Paper Plane Back View Focus on the Paper Edge, by Dmitry Krendelev.