In Search of Safety

She fled to safety

from lands of chaos and catastrophe,

where she woke to the sounds of crashing

and crying and blood-curdling screams;

and she ran with bare-feet

down blood-lined streets,

covered in shards of shattered glass

that sliced at her soles until they stung.

And still she ran.

 

Travelling over treacherous waters,

journeys that lasted over a week,

and countless nights spent praying you’d escape

the ravenous jaws of the ocean

and waves that throw you about like a ball,

tossing, turning, lurching,

pulling you apart.

7 people lost this week,

you have to understand

these dangerous conditions

are the only ones safer than the land.

 

She travelled with children

that were all on their own,

their parents last hopes and dreams

packed into a boat, with a goodbye kiss

and tears streaming down their cheeks.

She too cried when she had to leave them,

but these governments, they don’t care.

You’re not their problem, it’s not their issue,

as long as you’re not theirs.

 

But they give help to the most vulnerable,

so she left them on their own,

and gave her last desperate hope

that they would find a new home.

 

And after all this she was made to wait

for months and weeks and days,

until they gave her a house,

somewhere to live and food on her plate

and colour returned to her rosy red cheeks.

But she didn’t speak their language

and she didn’t wear their clothes,

so she was ridiculed and bullied;

and after her search for safety

and all her efforts to be free,

they forced her to live in exile;

couldn’t they just let her be?