Refugees In Our Time Poem by Elizabeth Padillo Olesen

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