figures of men and women with arms raised and faces blurred in airport security scanner
[ This photograph is in the public domain. ]

Airport Security

Thank you for cooperating to make this flight safer,
the lady guard says as I
undress before her penlight
and electronic wand.
I’m rather pitiful in my middle age.
My mossy body hair grows inappropriately
but leaves patches clear for takeoffs.
After scanning and searching,
I’m declared safe
and allowed to fly, but
the guard forgot to check my big belly.
Where,
in the folds of fat,
I hid small rolls of
pornographic microfilm which I
will soon publish illegally
in many forbidden places.