Afghan Refugees Poem by Bernedita Rosinha Pinto

Let the bygones be bygones
let tomorrow offer you a new dawn;
no men or no gun to save you
no horse or no chariot to carry you;
but the escape will change your fate
and those who stay back will have
no opportunity to avoid their doom;
so as time runs, you got to run now
and as you will reach another land
you will breathe with ease and feel appeased
but the peace you have lost will never revive
as you have lost your home and the precious unity.
And though years will change you and your life
and though your efforts will make you stronger in resolve,
your tomorrow will not be able to separate you from the past
as the freedom you gain will make you miss your homeland;
and as life will pass and winters will face you
there will always be coldness in your heart
even in the summers of your life
as you will never stop recollecting
of the terror, the violence, the war,
the destruction, the loss of family members
and the country you were born;
you will miss the streets you would walk and play
you will miss the friends you would sit and talk
you will miss the solidarity you would enjoy
and you will always pine for your homeland
amidst all that you will see and achieve.