A poem by Parwana Amiri
Parwana Amiri is an author, poet and activist from Afghanistan who is living in Greece since September 2019. Her poetry may seem softly written, but it contains hidden stories and bitter truths. With her work, she challenges the power of art and poetry to convey these bitter truths of the times. This poem is written to express the scenes of Parwana and other refugees in a dinghy, trying to reach Europe. In their last effort to cross the Aegean Sea, there were many people in one boat and it was a dangerous, terrifying night. The water was coming in the rubber boat and we were trying to throw it away. Prawn likes the power of poetry to express the scenes she has experienced as a refugee.
It is important to remember that as you read this poem many are still trying to pass borders and put their lives in a rubber boat, with the aim of reaching safety .

Illustration by Alexandra Nikolova (Ål Nik).
The illustration follows one of the hardest moments of the refugees’ journey – sailing through the scary dark waters to seek refuge. We find them at the moment when the waves were endangering the boat, mothers and children were crying. We feel thousands of dreams and hopes for reaching out the shores….
We were in distress
In a dark scary night
As the moon was smiling
In the middle of the sea
We were in distress
My mother was crying
Scared for us all
In that angry rough sea
We were in distress
Time was passing slowly
Seconds were counted
Danger was alerting us
we were in distress
Stars were sparkling
Water was all around
Babies were all crying
We were in distress
Thousands of dreams in the sea
Many courages were put to the test
To reach safety, crossing the sea
We were in distress
Some holes in our rubber dinghy
Let the water in slowly
We took both our shoes off
We were in distress
We searched for something
Nothing around to
Throw the water out of the dinghy
We were in distress
Our hearts were pulsing hard
Our eyes were getting wet
We were sinking
We were in distress
The final moments were upon us
We reached the shore
Exhausted, alone, distressed
We reached Europe