The Girl in the Belly of the Beast

To be a girl having to hide your sexuality, all for a chance to sail upon the seven seas.. to escape from life's unforgiving realities

Getting stuck into the dirtiest of jobs, covered head to toe in no-sense of identity...

than that of the rat, scurrying about on the decks.

Like the invisible faces of the stowaways, that no one remembers, not they're coming or going… Perhaps the captain might know.

There is a lot he doesn't know like there's a girl hiding amongst the decks, in the belly of the boat… Forgotten

All for a chance to sail the seven seas

For that escape.. to a distant place

Chance to wash the dirt away, see my face again.

Chance to forget.

Chance to start anew.

In some far off distant place.

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This poem was inspired through workshops delivered by curator Trisha McCauley’s ‘Hidden Sailors: Places and Spaces’ project for Bridging Histories supported by the Mayor of London.