n Maria Lewitt's poem "Smugglers," the author communicates the feelings associated with being an immigrant arriving to a new country. These feelings are relevant to many immigrants and their experiences, not just to the "Australian experience" posed in the student's original question. No doubt, the author considers the new immigration experience as a dispassionate welcoming. As a new immigrant, the speaker communicates how efficient yet impersonal her passing into a new country is:
We were met
By brisk efficiency
Passport, Landing Permit.
Vaccination. Chest X-Ray
Name. Nationality.
And yes,-
Anything to declare?
Clearly, the speaker is comparing how arriving into a new country is like going through a security checkpoint in an airport. There is no friendly interaction. It is a mechanical process. No one is welcoming the new immigrant. It is a cold and indifferent passage.
The speaker then continues to communicate her experience at the insensitive checkpoint:
Nothing was confiscated.
We were free to go.
Our bodies bent
Under the heavy cargo
Of our past
We smuggled in
Values and slanted opinions