Australian Shore
For some, reaching the safety of the Australian shore is impossible. Why?
The bushes near the water where I have found the Brindah's message in a bottle.
For Brindah and her fellow travellers the Australian shore looks hostile and unwelcoming.
For another, more lucky little refugee the Australian shore looks much more friendlier.
He takes his time to explore the new environment.
He learns a new language and he founds his first friends.
He wanders further and further and his footprints stay in the sand.
He learns to be an Australian.
He grows into a young man.
He knows that his Father came on a boat from a foreign land but he knows nothing else.
Few lucky refugees are welcome to reach the Perth
Most of them never reach it or they are pulled away.
A glimpse of sparkling water give them hope.
Then they reach the rocky coastline again.
A Message In A Bottle
Half buried into the sand dunes
near my beach house
green, corked wine bottle
I had to smash it
to get the letter out.
Who was the mysterious
message-bottler?
the odd fantasy
of a tall, dark and handsome
billionaire,
bored on his luxury cruiser,
crossed my mind.
' Please help us
and save our lives,'
its author,
a nine-year-old girl,
Brindah was her name.
Sri Lankan asylum seeker
thwarted from reaching Australia's shore,
her dreamland, her only aim.
Leaning over the rail
of a small rickety cargo boat
among three hundred desperate people
who called a hunger strike.
Brindah put the message
in a bottle
and threw it overboard.
I know,
you would prefer
a romantic billionaire,
but the Ethnic Tamil child,
lost and scared
is the only one I have found.
I found a treasure,
a message in a bottle,
now I have to find
that child.
Asked about Brindah's plea,
Australian Immigration Minister
said,
she was just one millions of refugees
seeking a better life,
she is now in Merak,
Indonesian detention centre,
for another ten or twenty
years
of her life.
' Please, think of us, please,'
I finish reading her message in a bottle:
'we have lived in a forest for one month,
please sir, take us to your country,
there must be somewhere a place for us...'
Brindah will get old and wrinkly,
locked behind the Indonesian wall,
dreaming about our Australian shore.
I am sorry, my dear Brindah,
I am just a writer,
I keep your bottle and write a poem...
about YOU
about YOUR PEOPLE
what would happen
if you managed
to reach our shore.
BOAT PEOPLE
Boat people are coming
struggling to reach a shore
of ' Promised land'
like others
before them
for a hundred years
following the Dream Times people
and British settlement.
Another day is starting
with Kookaburra laughing
the newcomers are sitting
in the shadow of Eucalyptus tree
to study English grammar
and how to feel free
under the barbed fence
Another yea is ending
on the summer midnight time
listening Aussie Dinkum
they look at Southern sky
sewing their lips together
they think about their roots
and the children for which
they sacrifice...
And their children
are running
happily on the sand
leaving their footprints
hopefully
forever on red land.
I just wish Brindah's footprints would be one of them.
IF YOU HAVE BEEN MOVED BY THIS TRUE STORY; PLEASE ANSWER MY QUESTION
ABOUT THIS ISSUE ON MY BLOG: http://bittersweetbeata.blogspot.com
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW YOUR OPINION; PLEASE SHARE IT WITH ME. THANK YOU.
Amazon Books
 |
Amazon Price: $25.99
|
 |
Amazon Price: $16.95
List Price: $5.99 |
 |
Amazon Price: $5.57
List Price: $14.00 |
No comments:
Post a Comment