Author’s photo by Di Sinclair-Thomas

A is for amity, Australia,………. Afghanistan………. heart of Asia ¹………. graveyard of empires²………. and asylum………. seeker
B is for Bahai, Bangladeshi,………. boats beacons of hope buoyed on seas
C is for convert ………. an ex-Muslim, Christmas Island, coast ………. and castaways
D is for diaspora, danger, drowning, detention, death
E is for epic………. journey, embarkation, exile
F is for freedom, faith, float and fear
G is for gay, for guns
H is for Hazara, human………. rights
I is for illegal, imprisonment, insanity, innocent, Iranian or Iraqi, Indian ………. Ocean
J is for jellyfish stranded on the shore
K is for Kabul, Kurd, knife
L is for limbo, lava, land grab, landlocked………. no knowledge of the sea
M is for Manus, murder, Myanmar
N is for Nadesalingam
O is for ocean, other, outburst, outflow
P is for political, for protest, prison, Pakistan ………. an uncertain welcome, for people in boats, P is for pumice ………. the rock that floats………. Q is for the quiet………. children
R is for refugee, rebel, Rohingya………. R is for razor ………. blades ………. how many can the desperate swallow?
S is for sail, seas, shipwreck, sinkings, S is for sea change, sea changer, Sri Lankan, Somali, soldiers, silencing, Sudanese, safety, for shank ………. a knife by any other name
T is for torture and turn-back, Tamil and transformation ………. T is for the Taliban………. seeker[s] of knowledge³
U is for the United ………. Nations
V is for visa ………. bridging ………. V is for volcanic, violence, vendetta, vigil
W is for war, writer, women and weapon, for waxen faces, for why? ………. and water ………. mile after mile of water under an empty horizon.

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^{¹ Wikipedia contributors. “Afghanistan.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 23 Jul. 2024. Web. 24 Jul. 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan
² Pillalamarri, Akhilesh. “Why Is Afghanistan the ‘Graveyard of Empires’?” The Diplomat, 30 June 2017, thediplomat.com/2017/06/why-is-afghanistan-the-graveyard-of-empires.
³ Department of foreign Affairs & Trade. “Afghanistan.” Australian Government, www.dfat.gov.au/geo/afghanistan. Accessed 24 July 2024.}

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Barbara Temperton is a writer of poetry and prose. She lives in Kinjarling Albany on the south coast of Western Australia. Barbara is the author of four books of poetry, the most recent being Ghost Nets (WA Poets Publishing: Perth, Western Australia, 2022. 

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