You had studied the same thing as me at Damascus University
We had received our Engineering Degrees at the same age
We talked about the classes we took,
Staying curious we were the architects of new adventure hope
You said that you wanted to design bridges when you got to the UK

You told me that you and your friends had paid 12000 euros to get to the UK on a lorry.
You got dumped in a car park and waited all night for a second driver to pick you up.
You called the lorry driver but no-one answered or arrived.
No-one came to pick you up.
By the time you made it back to Calais
You hadn’t eaten, drank or slept for two days.
You asked what I could do so this would not happen to someone else,
but I knew this was happening every day, every night.
430 in a single day

SIMON DUFF

Simon Duff is a writer, critic, poet and composer based in London. He regularly broadcasts experimental political sound art on Resonance FM. 21st-century Poetry is edited by Andy Croft, email info@smokestack-books.co.uk