The collective speaker represents an amalgamation of immigrants and refugees drifting across an unspecified sea. They carry physical items, like bags of soil and academic diplomas, while also bearing abstract emotional burdens. Fleeing environmental disasters and proxy wars, they hold onto their mother languages and histories while searching for a new shore.

The parents are the family members left behind by the immigrants and refugees making the sea journey. They remain in homelands affected by climate change and industrial waste. Their physical separation from their children marks the initial emotional burden the speaker acknowledges.

The ancestors are the historical forebears of the collective speaker. Their physical toll built foundational structures, such as railroads and plantations, in the lands the speaker hopes to reach. They serve as a historical precedent for the harsh labor conditions immigrants face.