Uprooted, spread to corners in the globe
accepted, helped, rejected or cursed,
they ran away from their homeland
away from bombs, ruins and fires,
from hunger, violence and fears
in search for peaceful and better life.
They bank at the doors of
Mediterranean seas in small boats
played by middle men who charge
them high fees on top of their miseries;
They hitch hike or hide in big lorries
and the unfortunate others turn as cadavers.
Some of them cross the borders
as animals herded as criminals
or illegal trespassers, kept in police custody
or in prison cells; others spread their body
on the streets to sleep, wondering where
to find a toilet, food and water to quench their thirst.
And those in power continue
to discuss who are the right refugees
And build walls to protect their own borders,
scared to be over burdened and drowned
by the human duty to help the needy.
____________________
August 31,2015
Its a terrible shame what is happening to these people, its not as if these people want to leave their countries, they don't want to get killed and persecuted, they want a chance of a future for themselves and their children. The irony is there considered the enemy by people, whose own leaders are partially responsible for causing these wars. A great and caring work, intelligent and thoughtful.
Thanks, Kevin, for your reply. The refugee issue in our time is a test to our conscience and our beliefs in freedom, democracy, solidarity and human compassion.
Thanks for sharing this poem with us; with the muse of the refugees heading towards Europe.
Thanks for your quick response, Edward. I hope to read more poems on this issue.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Man becomes a refugee, a homeless searching a home outside his home What a shame to mankind to treat man as animals Where is the wisdom that makes man superior than animals A very thoughtful poem.
Thanks, Abdulrazak, for your reflective comment. Yes, it is our question. Where is the superiority of man and woman that carries in it the duty of human responsibility?