I have a feeling that my boat
has struck, down there in the depths,
against a great thing.
And nothing
happens! Nothing…Silence…Waves…
–Nothing happens? Or has everything happened,
and are we standing now, quietly, in the new life?
by Juan Ramon Jiminez
This happens
this happens again and again
to everyone of us
we run aground, we do a lot to refloat our vessel
sometimes successfully
sometimes a deep notch stays in the boat’s hull
this time, there’s nothing to be done, we ran aground
terribly – awfully – or maybe also finally so
finally forced to a standstill
finally brought back into the NOW finally HERE
all of us
money, which first was not available, not for the poor, not for health and education, not for the environment, not at all for migrants and not for development cooperation
money, now pours from the granaries, to refloat our boats
but money alone won’t be enough
we don’t want to board dirty luxury cruisers anymore
don’t want skies with contrails
no longer want thousands to vegetate in camps
want the end of wars and arms trade
we ran aground
found ground
grounds for good lives
Claudia, 59, Austria