Libya is Blue

by Farrah Fray

Blue Peugeot, Tripoli Old City, Libya, March 11, 2017. Mansour Alssager Photography.

Gaddafi was captured mid siesta,

he tried to escape in a Peugeot truck the colour of the sky

with a faulty indicator light-

shouting “Those damn rats,” 

when he stepped outside

but we wanted to be 

like Omar Mukhtar

Etched into the azure of ten dinars

Instead, we buy oil for ten times its cost

And dance to Shakira, our shirts embossed 

“MILANO”

All we have are our scars, racing cars

And coins that jiggle like children’s giggles,

for the timid young guy who sells dates out of the back of his Peugeot truck

on the corner of the squares and streets

We were told not to protest on

Squares which now hold more than one purpose, 

crisscrossed roads, 

An obituary to many, and a lifeline for some

Learning to be free;

Searching for Libya.

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Farrah Fray is a writer, activist and poet studying in London by way of Libya. She has written for Feminal and Kinguistics as well as Letters Ly Libya and translated for Haawiyat, a Syrian comic aimed at refugees. Her work explores culture, displacement, feminism and identity with a focus on Libya and London. Her first poetry collection, The Scent of my Skin, was recently published.