“There was a seed” written by Mohammad detained on Manus Island

There was a seed,
fresh and beautiful —
it knew nothing
of the outside world. …
This beautiful seed
was stuck between
two walls in a village.
The sun and the moon,
the rain, the white snow,
and the blue sky were unknown to it.
Because this seed was living
in darkness.
Still, it had a good feeling
about the world outside.
It continued to say,
Behind this wall
there is something better.
Its heart beat
with each passing day,
beating faster and faster,
yearning to see the outside
until it couldn’t take it anymore!
Its heart cracked,
grew a stem
and then a bud.
Its pretty stem
punched the wall
and, shaking with fear,
it poked its head out into the sun.
Afraid at first
it shrunk back into the wall,
not even knowing
it had seen the light.
But soon it got restless
and returned, longingly, to look at the sky.
The sky rained on the bud
making it clean and cold,
then the sun warmed its body
and the bud inspired itself to keep growing
until it burst into a beautiful flower.
No one had ever seen such a flower.
But between the two walls,
standing steady,
the flower just said —
We can carry on,
in any circumstances!
All we need is patience.