Skrzynecki's Poem 'Crossing The Red Sea'

When a migrant decides to leave their homeland, challenging and emotional obstacles may occur. This concept is expressed in Skrzynecki's poem “Crossing the Red Sea,” where the poet explores the challenges faced, when leaving his homeland to Australia, in search of a better quality of life. The poem also outlines the emotional and physical endeavours, of being a migrant. An example of this, can be depict through the line “stretched out on blankets and pillows against cabins and rails.” Through the use of vivid imagery, Skrzynecki has conveyed the situations migrants had to undergo, by expressing to the reader the physical hardships of being a migrant. This line depicts the uneasy challenges faced by the migrants, as a result of the conjunction
in the boat, thus portraying the physical endeavours. Furthermore, the poet has achieved to display the emotional obstacles in the poem, through the use of juxtaposition and the colour red as a motif. This can be seen through the line “I remember a field of red poppies, once behind the forest. Blood leaves similar dark stains- when it runs for a long time on stones or rusted iron.” As a result, this line demonstrates how the past memories of war has affected the migrants, and how they are affected emotionally. In addition, the juxtaposition of war, expresses the difference of how something so beautiful like red poppies, can be compared to a frightening and threatening symbol like blood, hence communicating the emotional endeavours faced by the migrants. Consequently when a migrant decides to leave their homeland, challenging and emotional obstacles may occur.