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Book 37 Page 18
Boat People
What is a boat person anyway, do they look like this?
Are they merry and gay like this?
Do they come in boats like this?
Or is this only a description of 'English' boat persons?
Do we really need to keep them away with other boat persons like this?
And if you ever happen to meet a “boat person” on the high seas, should you ram them with a bigger boat like this?
Or just sail on pass them and let them be?
And what happens if you actually meet a real life ‘boat person’ in the streets? Do you chuck them a life raft, (metaphorically speaking of course.) Or do you treat them with contempt. If you do; it would seems as though to them that they have traveled half way round the world, (risking life and limb,) only to find out that they are still, (metaphorically speaking again,) in the same boat.
© Written by Dominic John Gill www.poetry.net.au dominicj7@poetry.net.au 08/20/2004