in honour of Benjamin Zephaniah

tossed on stormy seas
crammed below deck
sick and fearful
we hope for a safe port,
travel miles overland
pulling oxcarts or wagons
one foot in front of the other—
exhausted.

pursued by demons—
around every corner,
our spirits lift,
to drop again.
mountains cold and foreboding
rivers too wide to ford,
forests impenetrable,
land – hardscrabble—
will we ever find a home?

Where is our community,
the people who will welcome us,
arms and hearts—open?

Do they remember
how long ago
they came here
found succour and hope
in a strange land?

Now, it’s our turn.

You were all refugees—once.

**

Janis La Couvée (she/her) is a writer and poet with a love of wild green spaces, dedicated to conservation efforts in Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada —home since time immemorial to the Liǧʷiɫdax̌ʷ people. Words in Pure Slush, Counterflow 3 (Wordstorm Society of the Arts), Jake the Anti-Literary Magazine, Splendor of Wings (League of Canadian Poets chapbook), Litmora Literary Magazine, among others. Online at janislacouvee.com; @lacouvee on X, Mastodon and Bluesky, @janislacouveeonline on Instagram and Facebook

P76 issue 9: Poetries of place/ displacement/ diaspora/ odyssey: On-line Edition. Table of Contents