Crossing Borders Poem by Nosheen Irfan
Crossing Borders
War broke out
A man-made calamity
They had to run for life
They felt they had no choice
They had to leave their homes
their barns, their cattle
their pastures, their names
They had to run
No looking back
Look behind
and you'd be turned to stone
Where are they going?
Blankness. Period.
They are going to
cross borders by sea
For, it's harder to do so by land
They are taking a chance
They can't be worse off
than they already are
All things considered
Imagine the worst
Still you'd want to flee
for you don't want
fire raining down on you
or death hunting you down
You don't want bullets
making holes in the walls
in the human bodies
or in your souls
You better run
or you'd be history
There you are!
the vast blue sea
a boat overloaded
with wretched souls
sailing to safety
or to death
Nobody knows.
Nosheen Irfan © 2016
All Rights Reserved
Your poem on refugees details all the worldly and material things they lose when they flee, but you also emphasize the emotional losses, which even a place of relative safety will not dispel. Your poem has an urgency and momentum which made its rhythm resemble the flight of people. You really made me feel what the refugees feel and my response is the grief for fellow humans who are suffering because of other people's lack of compassion. I agree with Susan's comment THROUGH LITERATURE SUCH AS THIS, THE WORLD WILL BE AWAKENED. Perhaps it has already begun.
The life of these refugees is so fragile, so unprotected from the bullets and bombs of the warring factions but also unprotected from starvation and disease as nation after nation close their borders to them. Yet the borders are closed to them because they are feared... maybe because there may be terrorists hiding in their midst, maybe because their numbers threaten the economy of small nations. This is a world-wide problem- -the world together must find a way to help our fellow man. Quite a sensitive write, Nosheen. Through literature such as this, the world may be awakened.
Hi Nosheen, Look behind and you would be turned to stone The haunting images of today's unending violence against humanity brought out effectively with this simple image from the magical tales of yore esp. The Arabian Nights. Fantastic poetry. Enjoyed reading. Congrats.
Such is the life of a refugee, the migrate to save their lives without knowing what is stored for them in future and at new place.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/4/2024 8:53:31 PM # 1.0.0.1119
When I start feeling sorry for myself I think of these refugees who have lost everything.