PASSPORT is a protest poem denouncing a long, non-exhaustive list of border absurdities and atrocities, nested inside a love poem to humanity as a naturally migrating species.
Since the publication of the original Maltese version in December 2009, the poem has been adapted and performed in over a dozen languages, at festivals and conferences in Europe, Asia, North America and Australia.
The new French Passeport, published by Éditions Faï Fioc, 2017. Closer to the real French passport than the previously self-published versions. Includes a glossary of placenames (for workshops etc., or for curious readers). Part of the royalties are donated to La Cimade. Poem adapted from the Maltese by Elizabeth Grech. This is the 8th edition of the French version since first publication in 2010. Photo by Elizabeth Grech.
Printed in the form of an 'anti-passport' valid for all peoples and for all landscapes, the booklet is currently available in 10 languages, with proceeds passed on to grassroots associations and collectives that provide direct assistance to refugees in 15 countries.
Passport is an anarchist love poem, a declaration of universal citizenship, the vision of a world where the fear of barriers and frontiers has long been overcome. A world without customs and checkpoints, without border police out to snatch away the dawn, without the need for forms, documents, or biometric data… A world without the need to cross the desert barefoot, nor to float off on a raft, on an itinerary of hope all too quickly struck out by the realities of blackmail and exploitation. The modulating verses of the poem, the rhythm and alliteration, give force to a voice looking to quicken the planetary conscience of the listener.
Photo by Martina Ambruso.
You can read more extracts from the Passport poem in different languages in the slideshow below.
