FREEDOM IS NEAR; EVEN HERE

For some countless decades now,
The eyeballs of my own people
And my wet eyeballs have seldom met.
If I have enjoyed their painful absence
Up till now,
Then I won't give up while rescue is near.

In some freezing sea I have swum hitherto.
Here I found no coral reefs,
Save some scaly poisonous fishes.
They've injected me with venom for too long;
Therefore I'll persist even in it,
For, soon, I will sneak out.

I am a slave here;
But a son somewhere.
Come and see these marks
Painfully inscribed on my flesh!
I heard that soon I shall go home:
So I'll hold my peace, and suffer some more...

Soon nostalgic eyeballs shall meet!
Soon my habitat shall change.
These fetters shall fall off my feet:
Freedom from these chains!
Soon, I also shall be shown the rescue door:
So I'll hold my peace, and suffer some more...

ISAAC ESSOUN
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