Martha Ako wrote her poem “Boat of Destiny” for Refugee Week, before she heard about the terrible sinking of this boat with an estimated 500 lives lost, including 100 children. The passengers were fleeing war, conflict and persecution in Afghanistan, Egypt, Pakistan, Palestine, and Syria, trying to reach Europe.

Boat of Destiny

In the raging storm
The mood so low
That a flapping sail
Still tears the heart

The horizon unseen
And snares of doom
That frenzy afloat
The risk to sail

When anguish looms
And self-reflection is lost
To hope is all
A journey unfolds

The stillness of the night
And flapping of the waters
That cursed reality
Of life on a noose

What prayer resounds
Where pain rebounds
To perish is no tune
Where thoughts go wild

For escape is key
And the future so bleak
When nightmares surface
To venture is to curse

With no safety measures
Nor itinerary to withhold
No tale is fun
For they that venture

No age aligned
No gender defined
For in this expedition
The sailor is self

Lo! the grumbling of the waves
The dance of the boat
The music of flapping waters
And singing seagulls

The raging ocean
And endless waters
The clinging and hugging
The fears and phobias
To surrender to nature
The stripping of man
The gain and the pain
Surpass the threat

by Dr. T. M. Ako
Swansea, 16th June 2023