JONAKI RAY
A Mirage at the Border
On the road dividing two states within the same country, a bunch of policemen check licenses and papers of the people lining the border. A man parks his motorbike, holds out his wallet, and shows his paper. A policeman blocks the man. The man takes off his helmet, keeps shaking his head. The policeman shouts, “All you outsiders think you can fool us”. Ahead, the tar on the road shimmers like liquified coal. The peak of summer temperature is measured by how fast tears evaporate.
The peak of summer temperature is measured by how fast tears evaporate. Ahead, the tar on the road shimmers like liquified coal, multiplicating the border. The policeman shouts, “Go back where you came from”. The man who has taken off his helmet keeps shaking his head, holding out his wallet, showing he has no money. He starts crying and kneels in front of the policeman. The other policemen laugh and feed biscuits from a packet to a puppy playing near their feet.
All over the world, a road divides two states within the same country, and sometimes more than one country. What remains common is someone, somewhere seeking the mirage of a refuge.
Jonaki Ray was educated as a scientist, worked as a software engineer (briefly), and then returned to her first love, writing. Honours for her work include Pushcart and Forward Prize for Best Single Poem nominations, Runner-up position in the November 2021 Flash Fiction Festival Throwdown Contest, as well the 2019 Iceland Writers Retreat Alumni Award. Her poetry collection, Firefly Memories, is forthcoming from Copper Coin in 2022.