Travellers

he strolled purposefully up to the shortest security line,
hefting his Samsonite suitcase up onto the shiny metal table.

he carefully removed his laptop from his briefcase
and placed it into a beige bin with an ad for travel insurance
pasted to the bottom.

he laid another beige bin onto the shiny metal table,
folded himself over his substantial belly to untie his black
laces on his wing-tipped shoes, then lifting them into the bin.

he unbuttoned his suit jacket, holding it out in front of himself
to examine it, as if to see if there were stains that needed attending to.
he carefully folded the jacket in two and placed it into another beige bin.

he paused, looking down at his stocking feet, at his Samsonite suitcase,
at his laptop, his suit jacket, his shoes in the bin.

finally, facing the walk-through security gate uncertainly, he realized that
he needed yet one more bin. He reached deep into the pockets of
his pin-striped pants and extracted his keys, cell phone, wallet and bill clip.

happy that everything was in order, he walked through the security
gate, reassembled his identity on the other side and proceeded to his flight.