Nobody's Own Poem by Suruchi Jha

They come to me riding on hopeful waves,
Staring at an invisible horizon, fervent for some trace
Of welcoming smiles on someone's face.

They breathe each other's breath, till they can no longer tell
The difference between fresh and stale,
Or if it was their own or their neighbour's smell.

Many have ravaged them, now it's my turn,
My salt fills their body, it makes them burn,
I choke their insides, some of it is lying on the stern

They carry no compass or clocks to guide their way,
Nor do any beacons or buoys light up any bay.
Even the stars have turned away from these adrift stowaways.

The ports deny their anchors a pause,
A fistful of soil or shelter under their stars;
For the lonely rudderless boat, only my vast blue gnaws.

They stay so long they feel like my own,
No more human, just a sack of bones.
Will they remember to live again once they find a home?

My currents are tired of this onerous burden,
Of this human cargo who are nowhere's citizens.
It's time for hope to sail away to lands golden.

By now they look like floating islands of misery,
Who belong to none - heaven or hell or anyone's memory.
I heave a long sigh and tip the boat slowly.

***