Member Poem

Never Known by Name
 

Lone Javanese vessel

twisted and battered 
 

                                                 unwelcomed cargo spilling over its sides
 

Icy water gleaming
lights brightly ranting
 

                                                          she hears obscure foreign voices 

                                                            Unauthorised maritime arrivals
 

hopes cling bleakly

Gasping for air

cypress smiling through the sea

cardamom, saffron, fig tree

                                                              sheltering from the heat

                                                            a child borne a future seen
 

delirious euphoric dream

Gasping for air
 

                                               small among remains of her new life

                                                          discarded cloak floats away
 

Never  known by name

Published in Right Now: Human Rights Australia 2015