Refugee

A little girl sits alone

For her no one cares

She sits and waits for nothing

On her eyelash, glisten tears

Her parents are gone

Her brother was killed

He yelled at her not to look

But she watched as his blood spilled

She tried to turn away

She was still but a child

But she was frozen to the spot

Although the weather was mild

She felt so sick

The ground turned red

Her foot slid back a step

Then she turned and fled

She didn’t know why

She left her brother lying there

The soldiers were gone, she knew

But she couldn’t go back, she wouldn’t dare

She left her brother lying so still

Unburied on the street

To be torn and mangled by wild dogs

That was the best fate his body would meet

She ran on afraid

No one paid her any mind

Her shoes gave way; they fell apart

From then on, with leaves, her feet would bind

She ran on alone

Her feet sore and blistered

Her clothes were nearly non-existent

Their seams ripped and tattered

Then the weather changed, the snow came swiftly

With no mercy, no kindness

The little girl gave in and collapsed

Her body limp and lifeless

The night offered no break, no stop

Of this violent winter storm

But all things must come to an end

So slowly, the ground began to warm

The little girl got up again

She had so little strength

But still she struggled on

Rubbing her slight body for warmth

She fought on with a fighting spirit

Finally, she reached the sea

She bent and touched the water once

Then she stood and joined the other refugees

They crowded into a tiny boat

Too small for their large number

A single wrong move could cost a life

No one dared make a blunder

For weeks this wore on

There was so little room

People died of sickness and disease

While others cried of doom

Finally, they reached a sandy shore

The little girl looked around

Everywhere there was just red sand

Apart from a tiny far-away town

A bus came, it crammed everyone in

It took them to a large building

The little girl looked at the tall-wired fences

It towered over her, so frightening

She couldn’t understand

What was going on?

She had just wanted to be safe

But now she was in a prison

Why was this happening?

What had they done

The little girl sat and waited

Her fighting spirit was… gone

The authorities questioned her

For hours and hours

She asked them, ‘Why? What had she done?’

“This country,” they said, “Is ours”

“But why can’t you share?

We want to be safe too

Why can’t you share what you have?

It doesn’t even have to be new”

“All I want is a home

I just want to stop running

I just want to be safe

I want my life less frightening”

Over and over, the same answer was given

“We cannot accept you into our country

You did not come legally

We can only accept true refugees”

The little girl cried, “This isn’t fair

We are true refugees

Why else would we have gone through all we have had to?

Just to get to this beautiful, red country”

The little girl lay down on her rickety old bed

No one cared for her, no one

She had fought for nothing

She lay there silently, her fighting spirit gone

Forever it seemed, she sat and waited

Never speaking, never communicating

She ate when told to, moved when instructed

But inside; she was fading, dying

This little girl was no longer a child

A woman she had become

When her home was destroyed,

To Australia she had come

However, here she found nothing

But a prison of desperate souls

Locked away for no reason

Apart for wanting a safe home

These people had survived bombing and raids

They had watched loved ones die

Why would they make up these stories?

Why would they come all the way here, then lie?

 

This little girl had grown up overnight

No childhood had she

Through torment, famine and terror she came

Just to live in a safe country.

So why do people hate them so

The Afghan wars is not their doing

They are the victims here, not us

So why won’t we give them the home they’re pursuing?