Thiruvananthapuram: Borders, displacement and the human cost of empire came into sharp focus at the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters (MBIFL 2026) during 'A Nomad’s World', a powerful performance by US poet and multi-genre artist Scott Ezell. Combining poetry, music and projected photographs, Ezell offered a deeply immersive reflection on borders as lived, violent realities rather than general political ideas.

The centrepiece of the session was 'Rivers of Dust and Light', a poetry cycle written in response to photographs by Brian Dickey taken along the US–Mexico border. Ezell, in the poetic discourse, explained that when borders are discussed in public discourse, they are often framed in terms of security, prosperity and order, while the everyday human cost remains unseen. His poems and visuals sought to challenge those narratives and open space for different questions about exclusion, violence and dignity.

Only brief excerpts punctuated the performance, allowing images and sound to carry much of the emotional weight. In one line, Ezell described the border landscape as “a river of dust and light”, while another evoked the moral desolation of the wall as a place where hope repeatedly dissolves before it can take root.

Projected photographs showed everyday objects left behind in the borders. Ezell noted that such artefacts speak quietly but powerfully about migration, survival and loss, revealing a terrain shaped as much by policy as by fear and exhaustion.

The session then transitioned into music, with Ezell performing songs that echoed the themes of movement and displacement.

He closed the evening with a final song dedicated to peace, 'Between Me and You'. Introduced as a reminder of shared humanity in a divided world, the song returned to a simple, unifying refrain: “There’s no difference between what’s called you and what’s called me.” The quiet intimacy of the closing performance offered a moment of stillness, underscoring the session’s central message—that beyond borders and walls, human lives remain deeply interconnected.

'A Nomad’s World' session stood out as one of MBIFL 2026’s most affecting sessions, demonstrating how poetry and music can cut through political rhetoric to bear witness to lives lived at the edges of nations and empires.