I’ve become a much less frequent visitor to the dVerse Poets Pub in the last few months, but it’s still the friendliest, most fun poetic community that I’ve come across. They are celebrating five years of poems, discussions, shared thoughts and laughter, so join us there , find out what Brian Miller (one of the founders of dVerse) has been up to recently, and take part in the first challenge of the week: a quadrille about ‘Journeys’.
A quadrille is a poem of 44 words exactly. Here is my attempt.
Refugees
The journey’s start
your journey’s end
Ouroboros alone knows
when we are done exploring in porous dinghies
or flour containers
in baroque façade deceptions
carton jungle of dead ends
where our feet move on and on for miles
yet our hearts not one iota
findingtimetowrite 
I really like the way you capture the experience of the journey here, Marina Sofia!
Beautiful!
Oh the plight of the refugee is truly heart breaking.
Did you see the documentary series on the BBC last week? It was quite eye-opening.
No. Unfortunately do not have access to BBC in our cable package (I’m in Canada)
Ah, you sound so British on occasion, that I thought you were based in the UK…
You capture the sadness of this journey. I raised my empathy level. Thank you.
“where our feet move on and on for miles / yet our hearts not one iota”, May such journeys end forever from the face of the earth…such overwhelming sadness in every line….
Thank you, Sumana, it’s a sad, sad plight indeed.
In the clash between the seas of terror and the seas of anguish, it is often too easy to overlook the individual suffering upon the churning upheaval. You poem adds focus to the plight.
I can’t imagine the sadness of leaving your home behind, to set out for the unknown. Very good capturing the plight of the refugees.
How very true. These people leave one home behind, their hearts behind. It has to be hard and yet, they do it. Excellent poem. It is so good to see you here. You are missed. Please visit again soon!
Oh my, and I miss you all too! So much! It’s just crazy at the moment in my house, preparing for the move. Only confirmed the removal people coming last Friday afternoon (so 2 weeks before the actual move). And still haven’t sold car. And… and… and… sadly, writing has taken quite a back seat at the moment. It makes me gnash my teeth, but what can I do?
Hang in there. It will all come together. Visit when you can. Take a couple of weeks away from blogging. Breathe deeply. Scream some. Have a nice glass or two of wine. Better yet, make a mimosa with fresh OJ, prosecco, fresh lime and a bit of ginger. Now, isn’t that better? Be good to yourself.
Oh this is a journey we see so much of, and see as a problem… but our problem is minute compared to theirs… (how can that be difficult to comprehend)
truly lovely heartbreaking piece!
When one leave behind all one knows…..the feet travel miles and the heart remains behind. Beautiful sense of the journey here.
Carton jungles of dead ends….My heart goes out to these refugees. I can’t imagine their challenges…very moving share Marina. Thanks for joining us in our 5th anniversary celebration!!!
Such a beautiful way of expressing it – people move, but their hearts are left behind. Touching.
The plight of the refugee…it makes some of our own journeys sound like vacations. A journey in their shoes would be an eye opener and I like the way you present the anguish, hardship and loss of hope in your poem. Nice to see you at the pub, MarinaSofia. 🙂
Ouroboros is such a perfect image for the beginning/end of these journeys. I’m so happy you were able to join in–we have missed you!
And I’ve missed you! Ah, well, I tell myself things will calm down in September or so and I’ll be able to visit more regularly.
it is a tough journey – leaving everything you know and to don’t know what to expect where you arrive – we have quite some refugees here in germany at the moment
Thanks for the reminder, MarinaSofia. Five years! Difficult to believe, but sadly my involvement has been much less than the stalwarts like Brian, Victoria, Claudia et al. d’Verse was always such a great concept; it’s almost an institution!
Well, we all involve ourselves as much as we can at the time: I’d have liked to do more, but it just became unfeasible as I prepare to move country and look for a new job and settle in the children and all that palaver. I hope to come back more regularly later on.
I’m amazed you found time to write this while moving! Loved it.
Sadly beautiful.
Oh, how perfectly said from the viewpoint of a refugee…the feet moving on yet the heart not.