Ahmed's Chimera

 

MY INTERPRETATION OF THE THEME OF ‘DISTANCE’ PUBLISHED ON ‘CHA, AN ASIA LITERARY JOURNAL

 

‘Ahmed’, Mum told me as I left her behind,

‘No distance really matters. You must go.’

 

Two months’ ordeal.

My body transported from one soil to another.

Crossing the desert on a truck

Thirty of us, soon a half.

My stomach growling,

Lamenting pains of starvation

The brain refused to acknowledge.

Heading North,

Surviving jail and torture,

Compulsory passports to our first destination.

Money buys all.

Even a passage to hell.

 

The sea, finally. That blue amplitude:

A liquid field shortening the distance between desperation

And hope.

Not treacherous,

Not an enemy to fight

Who spills blood on our faces and limbs,

Gunning down families, dismembering us,

left homeless and rootless.

 

The Mediterranean Sea.

A treasure cove of ancient amphorae,

Their encrusted handles

Loops of passage for curious fish.

Remains of old vessels condemned to seawater,

Home to marine life and forgotten past,

Hideaways for predators and preys.

 

In a flash, like unmerciful hands grabbing the side of the

Crammed dinghy,

Waves rose and rocked

Thirsty men, hopeful women, crying children.

A traitor’s push

Delivered them to their destiny.

Troublemakers – they told us – do not deserve to stay aboard.

Their bodies floated

With unnoticed commotion:

Patches of colour on the monotonous black.

Awaiting to sink, depart.

Engulfed, swallowed up by the abyss.

 

Our bodies, shaking, pressed into others’,

Eyes as dry as our glued lips and thirsty throats.

Voices fell as silent as the frigid night.

A coward, mute by fear

I only muttered prayers to my God. And cried with no tears.

 

Unawares, the tiny dot, fogged, trembling under the heat of the

Unfriendly sun

Grew bigger, enlivening spirits

If any left.

The boat was lighter, devoid of painful weights,

Driven by a disgruntled Charon carrying his last ghosts.

 

Lampedusa. A white beach, an island. No longer so far but still distant.

Hoping to be soon wrapped in blinding, metallic space blankets,

Dreams resuscitated and gave way to a fleeting chimera:

To proudly look at the sea –

Not lying flat, the swash and backwash of waves

Wetting a grey motionless face and a tiny body that could be

My brother’s, washed ashore on Turkish land.

 

But standing, toes in the sand, like a reborn man.