Tide Poem by Nassy Fesharaki

Tide

Maybe I
Am sick with dementia
See the past better now…

Then, of course, knew not
Of fishing, Soviets,
The Tatars, Ukrainians.

And of course, knew not
"Davaie, " "Bistry."

And of course, …
And of course, …

Knew I was kidnapped,
Held away, no contact.

Small was trawler,
Miserable night and day.

Everyone frowned at
Me, as if a rough target.

I tried quite hard
To become Papillon,
Jump in sea to escape
Get to shore and be safe.

Was tired of kitchen
And bucket toilet,
Greasy was their food and
The paper they used were
Of gazettes and old books.

Among last I found one
That read it many times
Like finding a lost love
(Were poems of Hallaj.)

Had spent many days
Beyond month, in two's range.

Had to go, dead, alive
No matter what came up.
I talked with observer,
A Kurdish hard-worker.

He would be my alarm
To wake me sharp at five.

Got dressed and ready,
Had hid vest for leaving,
And had made stick-bolt
To use for fighting sharks.

Confident swimmer
Used hands, legs
And swam, went away.

"May see boats,
Possibly a large ship,
Will reveal the news
To many antennas
And dailies…"
I declare to Kurdish.

And came five,
And came he…

I was sharp and awake,
Stood up, left the bed
And gathered my gears,
Winked goodbye, departed.

Slowly walked to side
Of the ship, then water…

And swam toward the
Oil rigs, far, visible.

Whenever saw a boat
Put in mouth the whistle
And blew my lungs' air.


Too noisy were engines,
My sound was
Passing air, by baby.

Did not hear!

Went slow and firm like
A tortoise in oceans
And could see the oilwells:
"Soon, I will be over there."

Hope, dreams, and plans
Grew as do plants
And flames were like sun.

Suddenly I felt that
Increases distant
From land and flames.

I had left in wrong time,
Calculated with fault,
The water, me in it
Started to return!

The "High-Tide"
Had reversed,
Carried me in away.

Not afraid, but lost, I
Had to live with the sun
That burns the Persian Gulf.

I like tiny fish
Lost in the waves, still
Full of hope to survive…

My power, capital
Were my hopes,
So, went on...

Dreamt of before night,
Shallow waves and my walk.

Surprised, saw monster,
Huge and humongous,
Its tallness to skies,
As if in Bermuda,
Directly aimed at me!

Seemed like a Disney Film
Ali Baba, Moby Dick.

Everyone, everything
Was small, except ship.

On the edge fishermen
Stood, held loops
With nets…

They had come to catch me
To be saved of danger…

I was pulled overboard
Like were the Stingrays
Pulled away and thrown,
So, laid there on my chest.

They gave me cups of tea
With kind, care, sweet.

Soviets were happy
For themselves, not for me.

"We would have been tried
In the court, International,
For a death that we caused, "
They said and spoke nice.

They returned and anchored
And raised the high fences,
Afraid that once again…

And that was just before
Myself and my family
Facing more corruption!