Jamala

What's wrong with dreaming, and loving the sea, absent seasons, like luck or a number, dull anyone’s features, when love is a wonder, that's a good reason, for this time to seize, don't stand there bleeding, be hard on the cumber, thank the Redeemer, we can all fake plunder, bring a gentle ease, kick out in the thunder, if everyone’s free, the sun might shine longer, waves stay out of trouble, dance every double, even the Conga.

Iona

I'm sat here thinking, shuddering what I'd taught, this is not me, my lover is asking, what low life are chancers, I see her running to the sea, dancing on thorns, reading up on infamy, Oh it's useless I gasp, and twist on horns, what are the coming tasks, someone else’s here and free, struggling to be born, she grasps for my sympathy, could I work a pass, sitting shyly on a wall, waiting for the crash, wishing I were gone.

Hope

What separates us from our best, does a sail makes us thrill, fly to water change address, a raging thirst, a map, papers, are we shrill, putting others first, dancing waves to caress, a starlit sky or utility bill, to fix our battered compass, stay our eyes beyond the curse, check on each daily drill, as our insides burst, locate the inventive West, let us pray we reach until, we can pass the test, sent back if not shirked, devoured by men or sin, flame or water re-imbursed, hunger fills this ship.

Guia

How do I do this scene, looking fierce on vodka, as if it will protect me, my greatest days contained, I loosen first my collar, sit side on restrained, off my face with anxiety, my lip stick down a sofa, eyes looking furtively, this place is like a train, a glorious hell stop cellar, I need to get away, like a gift from the sea, she brings me first Bollinger, is gentle as the breeze, doesn't mess with trade, hasn’t a sou to piss on, talks of foreign holidays, laughter sings like dollars.

Flo

Don’t know what to say, look at the stormy sea, wonder if there’s anyway, she talks of good news, what it means to be, away from that prison crew, coughing at the subway, taking care now, walking free, leaving that cramped space, measures by wine what’s true, is it just cruel enmity, love plays a lonely fugue, in circumstances here on holiday, a toil of waters at ease, she finds time to hesitate, I'd live down a sewer, a volcano fault line tells me, just to be with you, the waves are unreal.

Diane

What we were feeling, can never be undone, left us reeling , when you waltzed off alone, left us gone, where else but from home, freedom is a sense of being, unlike with us little ones, given away screaming, our shrunken tiny bones, in rooms that were no fun, who couldn't pray to God, but listened on their knees, to voices calling from above, if he heard our keening, now look how we’ve grown, our path shining come, varnish brightens our toes, we’ll dance again soon.

Estelle

Our ship bevels wide, we hear the women choristers, bring darkness to green light, implore us hear their song, sung like Mass the Matumba, prise apart dissolves our bones, twists each translucent guise, into scented candles, our belfries ring the night, this tiny lamp of boat, a heaving shard of romance, we wrestle among the ropes, with all we'd like, when we hail the dancers, holding arms and smoky wise, will they turn us to stone, bring tears to our eyes, watch us come and go, delay us with the tide?