Air currents in the sea
are like blue and green highways.
Fishes know it well
some take you south and others east,
but there is one that takes you to the bottom where the sunken ships are.
Not everyone who gets on a small boat knows it.

The poor is always less afraid of death,
because he knows hunger,
because he prays daily and is convinced that this life is fleeting and short
and because fear hurts less after having had it around.

But if you stay out of the water
still in the bushes without food,
fishes know it too,
you run out of air and you are eaten by rich men in a
seafood restaurant from the port.
That is why the poor jump into the ocean and catch the currents.
To save his life.

Air currents in the sea
are like lottery tickets.
Some go straight to the destination you ask for.
Others don’t although thousand men on their knees pray them to do so.

Montse Lopez Muley Abdhalha
(MUSSIA)

Translator’s note: original poem written in Spanish. Translated with the sole purpose of conveying its general meaning.

This song talks about the immigration that ventures into the sea with small boats. Although my personal position is closer to those who saves drifting boats on the sea rather than those who reject them, when I went a bit into the details of the immigration problem, I saw that it embraces great complexity.

      Perhaps, that’s why the image contains anonymous puppeteer hands trying to “steer” or “save” the paper boat, although this is not entirely achieved as the storm breaks some strings. The poem speaks of hunger as one of the essential engines that launch people into the sea, even risking their lives. But, of course, it is not the only one. Having a more dignified life or not being discriminated against as a human being are others, too. What the paper boat transports is common throughout the world: it drives us all. Our illusions, innocence and love for a better future floats on a brave sea full of ambiguous interests. Some hearts beat to go to work, but others, less fortunate, beat to be less afraid.

                                                                   Jordi Roca Zanuy