Artist Saving for His Flight To Lahore

So we were three days into the training
And this guy from PK googled a sea
That’s two different colours.
I knew why he was showing me it.
The picture was beautiful, pure poetry,
Different shades of green and blue
With the Gibraltar sill between.
It was salt water and sweet water.
And this guy, who was still living at home with his parents,
And who was going to Lahore
After the call centre job was over,
And who was going to be an accountant after,
And who sketched pictures on his pad throughout the training,
Said to me, ‘that water, those colours, it’s like a metaphor, innit.’

Neil Campbell:

Ekphrasis (new collection of short fiction)