One Day

We lived in a simple house.
There were three trees nearby that I used to climb.

One day, bombs dropped close to our house.

Our house and the trees were badly damaged.

My father and mother decided
that we would leave our home and country
and make a new home
in a country in which we were not afraid.

The walk was difficult.
We often walked through the night.

The signs were confusing.

It took many days to get to the sea.

We bought three places on an inflatable boat
to go from Turkey to Greece.

I can’t swim. I was afraid.

It was very crowded.
Mother and I sat in the middle
with the women and children.
Father sat on the rim.

The engine broke down
when we came
close to the Greek shore.

Fortunately three men who could swim,
jumped off the boat
and pulled us to the rocky shore.

Once we landed we had a long walk ahead of us
to the harbor where we would register
as refugees
hoping
that we would be allowed to continue on
to northern Europe.

Just as we started walking,
a bus stopped
and took us to the harbor.

I saw the sun and the moon without fear
and knew we would find a new home

one day.

Created with drawings found in the parking lot of the town of Molyvos
on the island of Mytilini/ Lesbos, Greece

Diane Katsiaficas 2015
katsi001@umn.edu
Edition of 100 ink jet printed accordion fold books of 25 pages each