We Refugees Poem by Benjamin Zephaniah
We Refugees
I come from a musical place
Where they shoot me for my song
And my brother has been tortured
By my brother in my land.
I come from a beautiful place
Where they hate my shade of skin
They don't like the way I pray
And they ban free poetry.
I come from a beautiful place
Where girls cannot go to school
There you are told what to believe
And even young boys must grow beards.
I come from a great old forest
I think it is now a field
And the people I once knew
Are not there now.
We can all be refugees
Nobody is safe,
All it takes is a mad leader
Or no rain to bring forth food,
We can all be refugees
We can all be told to go,
We can be hated by someone
For being someone.
I come from a beautiful place
Where the valley floods each year
And each year the hurricane tells us
That we must keep moving on.
I come from an ancient place
All my family were born there
And I would like to go there
But I really want to live.
I come from a sunny, sandy place
Where tourists go to darken skin
And dealers like to sell guns there
I just can't tell you what's the price.
I am told I have no country now
I am told I am a lie
I am told that modern history books
May forget my name.
We can all be refugees
Sometimes it only takes a day,
Sometimes it only takes a handshake
Or a paper that is signed.
We all came from refugees
Nobody simply just appeared,
Nobody's here without a struggle,
And why should we live in fear
Of the weather or the troubles?
We all came here from somewhere.
stay away from my home ***** and go back to where you came from
I love the truth and the courage and the final optimism of this poem, and of course the beauty of the words and images. People say “as free as a bird” but birds aren’t free. They have to look out for birds/ animals/ humans of prey – but they have the courage to live their lives with exhilaration and sing in the face of it – as you say we should do too, and you are so right.
we, everyone, came from a beautiful place, but to where we came that place made us hypocrites and haters and we are now in the realm of revengeful.
So true . We can be refugees under a regime ruled by corruption and greed. A straightforward and beautiful poem.
I am told I have no country now I am told I am a lie I am told that modern history books May forget my name. We can all be refugees Sometimes it only takes a day, Sometimes it only takes a handshake Or a paper that is signed.---What a touching write!
A touching poem imbued with a great message to humanity. Beautifully expressed.
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5/25/2022 5:57:49 PM # 1.0.0.964
beautiful...and so real.... tank you