As yet untitled
This is a departure from my usual subject, but it’s a poem I’ve been wanting to write for a while.
A young Syrian boy in The Jungle, photo by Sean Hawkey.
.
.
After the bombing
all are dead
all is gone
.
and I walk
.
I can carry only
my father’s pride
my mother’s longing
my brother’s blood
my sister’s hope
.
but my father’s pride
cannot be carried
as a refugee
so I lay it down
.
and I walk
.
when I sleep
my mother’s longing
is too painful to hold
so I lay it down
.
and I walk
.
until my shoes
fall off my feet
and I leave
my brother’s blood
and my own
on the road
as if it is worthless
.
and I walk
.
carry only
my sister’s hope
which is light
.
but this, too,
at the end,
cannot be carried
.
so I lay it down.
.
.
© Liz Brownlee 2016
.
.
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Photo by Sean Hawkey/WCC, shown by creative commons licence.
- Posted in: Poems
- Tagged: #3000 refugees, Calais, Refugee, Refugee Crisis, Syria, Syrian Refugees, The Jungle
lizbrownlee - poet 
This is so moving, Liz. Beautiful, and tragic, focusing on the simple human suffering behind the (abhorrent) headlines
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Thanks, Al.
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All I can say about this is one word “Deep”.
http://enchantedfantasies.blogspot.com/
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It’s not meant to be, Thea, I was going for speaking plainly so anyone can empathise!
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This is powerful and so very sad. We can only imagine what many, who have had to flee their homeland, are feeling but I think you captured it
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Hello Birgit. These 3000 children who have no-one in the camp at Calais are who I was thinking of – they have lost everything that gives them stability and safety and many are disappearing in a place that should be a refuge.
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A very true,concise piece. I like the falling away of the deep emotional baggage until he is left with nothing. That’s the real tragedy. You highlight the human suffering with empathy and toughness. Thankyou.
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Thanks, Anny. The way these children have been treated is a scandal – however they are treated, nothing is going to erase their memories, losses and scars, but to take away hope for a better future, that in my view is inhuman.
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Your poem brought tears to my eyes, Liz. A poem like this works in a way that prose could never achieve. Thank you for moving me so profoundly.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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Thanks, Susan.
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This is so powerfully sad. Permission to share it on my FaceBook page. Plus i have nominated you for the Ewonderhub blogging award.check it out on http://akhymjanja.co.ke/ewonderhub-blogger-award/
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Please feel free to share this, Abu, thank you.
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What a touching poem. It’s so sad that the children, the innocents, have to suffer. Thank you.
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Hi, Beverly, thank you. It is.
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That was so poignant, Liz. ❤ We had four Syrian families join my daughters' school last week. I watched one little boy walk in on Monday, full of smiles. He knows no English right now, but he was still so happy. I can't even imagine what he and his family have been through.
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Hello – what a lovely story, Tracy!
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That gave me chills.
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Wow. A very moving piece Liz. I enjoyed it, even though it gave me a chill.
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Thank you, Kim.
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