At the deck, between the giants,
Anchored amidst the expensive yachts
And the boisterous looking commercial vessels
Is a small boat, Ahmed’s boat.
He is neither a seafarer
Nor is more experienced than his baby sister Maya
He is but a child
Still, the little boat was his own
His father a humble fisherman
His mother a lowly washerwoman
Nevertheless Fate had different plans for him
At 14, the sun was but a blob of orange paint
The horizon all too close
And sailing all too simple
Yet he knew he must go:
Go forth into the wide ocean
To reach foreign lands and make his fortunes.
Father questioned his motives
Mother cautioned him
Still he sailed
With unrelenting courage
And a fire that burns within his soul.
The sea was still
The anchor pulled up
The oars taken out.
At 14, he saw the world as a kaleidoscope
Each reflection in all six mirrors was poles apart
In one, he saw the calm blue waters
In another, a storm
Then the undeniable silence
That dread of what was to come
Along with the exhilaration
And the will to conquer.
Tempest came,
In deadly whirlwinds and torrential pours
The little boat overturned
With Ahmed barely holding on,
“I mustn’t die”, he whispers
With a gulp of saltwater
And a shrill cry,
He holds on.
With unrelenting courage
And a fire that burns within his soul.
The blue waters settle
He faces that blob on the horizon
Unafraid and determined
Because courage does not relent
And fire does not die.
Bethamehi Joy Syiem
Class 10, Pine Mount School