LatinosUSA

OUR BURIALS OUT AT SEA

Rumor has it that we perished while attempting to flee this colony of injustice and oppression, a place intertwined with our personal history and memories. Unfortunately, a hurricane struck just after we set sail, casting us into the jaws of ravenous waves. Our bodies were torn apart and devoured by fish.
Another rumor claims we were killed trying to escape the suffocating autocracy. Tragically, we were shot dead on the boat by rifles fired from the shore, never even getting the chance to unfurl our sail. Our bodies sank into the sea, our blood stained the water red momentarily.
Yet another rumor suggests we died while sailing northeast toward an island fraught with conflict and risk, but also full of promise. Sadly, we became lost in the boundless sea. Day turned to night and night to day, our ignorance of the constellations failing us. Exhausted from fresh water and food, we succumbed to dehydration.
All these rumors paint a more merciful fate than the truth. In reality, before we even tasted the salty water, we were handcuffed on land and thrown into jail. In solitary confinement, deprived of fresh air and natural light, our wills decayed, and our minds drifted in the torturous dungeon. Our souls, lingering at the seashore, slowly faded into oblivion.

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Author’s Note:
In August 2020, twelve Hong Kong pro-democracy protestors, charged under the National Security Law and on probation, were arrested when their speedboat was intercepted by the China Coast Guard. They were attempting to flee to Taiwan.

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Photograph by and property of Francisco Bravo Cabrera, Poetry Editor/Latinos USA/English/Spanish Editions

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