[iː]

Expats
we are called
we like to be called
we call ourselves
with our life in our hands
and no special coverage in the news.

No, we are not migrants
asylum seekers
refugees
their life not their own
and the papers filled with them
like a camp.

But how many of us
are in need of refuge
only with an unspoken modifier
professional
educational
cultural
lifestyle.

How many of us are displaced by life
forced to migrate abroad to seek refuge
from false starts
wrong turns
dead ends.

We find refuge
for a time or for life
whether we deserve it or not.

We never have to drown
shiver
fear
starve
disbelieve
the high pitch e at the end
making all the difference
in the world.