“Lean back”

“No lean forward”

 

The water gushes and churnes

Beneath the silver hull

The wind racing through tendrils of blonde

That fascinated local villagers.

 

My fingers white with worry

With trepidation

As droplets 

meet my shift dress-

Khaki-

An attempt to fit in that made me stand out

But I blend into the water

Murky

Dark

With light freckles floating in the sunlight.

 

eleven.

 

The start of a

 journey that meets

 

Eleven countries

 

eleven

 

Different types of stories

-Maybe more

People

Illness

Birth

Ritual

 

Meets fishermen or maybe pirates

“Its difficult to tell the difference so tourists fall vulnerable”

 

We hear from 

up the river.

 

Eleven times

Maybe more

We’re told not to drink the water

“Will make your tummies sick”

Unused to parasites and dirt and difference

 

Were told to close our mouths and plug our ears

when we shower

Not to eat fresh vegetables

Not to buy from those children selling 

bracelets and stories

Desperate to talk

To ask

We’re told to pretend they are.

Invisible

As rotting teeth and a head covering question

“ What is your accent”

She looked about my age.

 

I wonder what she would say if she travelled

To places where the water runs clear

usually

Where food is secure

Sometimes

Where work is replaced by school, an education, 

a future

generally

 

Where a brick rubble highrise with gaping, glassless windows

are replaced for a home

Or a small shack,

Or a communal house on red dirt

Alone.

Desperate.

Untouchable. 

Mostly.

 

11 Australian British Open hopefuls

11 injured as bus drowns in Egypt

11 Fold reduction in virus contamination

11 troops killed in militant attack.

11 Gem-Filled Op Shops You Need To Visit 

11 countries

11 years old. 

 

Move forward

No move back.

We are more similar than we think.