ARRIVAL BY MONI BRAR We walked off a plane
and into a forest
not seeing the berries
signaling
danger or food in the river waiting
nor the pink flash We saw only rocks
to be gathered and stacked
land ready to be cleared flattened and ploughed did not know
to grow what we We peeled back
the earth’s mossy coat seeped into small towns into spaces of people
seeded hope spilled
unseeing the displacement flora and fauna
eager to build
a grim new future
a myopic dream in the wide open
A Voices from the FOLD: Year 7 original poem. 8
