A traveler stands at a silent border
Heart full of memories
Eyes full of home
Questions rise like cold walls
Voices ask for a reason to enter
But the soul carries deeper answers
Answers the mouth cannot speak
The road remembers every step
Old stones whisper forgotten stories
Hands long to touch the warm walls
Walls the color of living skin
Olive trees wait in patient sunlight
Branches heavy with quiet hope
Someone once gathered their gifts
Pressed them slowly into golden life
A house still watches the sea
Green shutters closed like tired eyes
Wind moves softly through the hill
But no footsteps return inside
A suitcase holds more than clothes
It carries prayers and soft memories
Folded like careful linen
Waiting to touch the land again
This feeling is called Upon Arrival
A moment between longing and truth
Where silence speaks for the heart
And memory walks beside the traveler
Another guard asks the reason
But the heart answers Upon Arrival
Because love remembers every road
Even when borders refuse names
Still the spirit keeps walking
Through time, through distance, through sorrow
Until hope whispers again
The quiet promise of Upon Arrival
Read More: https://truehymns.com/a-red-red-rose/
“Upon Arrival” Summary
Upon Arrival by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha describes a traveler who is asked to explain the reason for visiting their homeland. The speaker is told not to mention the real reasons, such as love for the land, memories of family, olive harvest traditions, and an empty family house left behind. The poem shows the pain of displacement and the deep emotional connection to homeland. It highlights themes of identity, memory, loss, and hope.
