Twenty Thousand Miles Poem by David Keig

We came here to Australia
From a place that’s called Sudan
I‘ve got three beautiful children
And a badly damaged man
My youngest child is six years old
And doing oh so well at school
My eldest she is now fifteen
And she says I am a fool
My husband he is trying
To settle in down here
He was an ardent Muslim
Now he seems to like his beer
His English is not good you know
And I know that he does try
But it’s hard here in Australia
Without the Sudan sky
We do not know where we fit in
We’re not welcome on these shores
But back in earth burnt Africa
We could not take no more
My cousin she was raped then burned
My father torn apart
One of my children blown away
Now – you listen to my heart
My pulse is strongly beating
But it bleeds inside for them
We have left that cold, dark continent
And now want to start again
My teenage lovely daughter
Is now active in a gang
She’s rude, aggressive and I fear
She’s for gaol in this land
My husband finds it hard you see
He’s not listened to no more
He has no pride in what he is
And sleeps nightly on the floor
My younger two are all my pride
I try to hold them very near
But how this country treats them
Is something that I fear
Myself? I am above this
I am tall and straight and proud
I just want us here and happy
That is if we are allowed
To get on with life and settle in
To greet each day with hopeful smiles
For why else would a family
Travel twenty thousand miles?