Poem by Lily Swarn


GLASS MARBLES
(Written in anguish for refugees the world over)

Uprooted like sprawling shady banyan trees
Human lives lying pell mell
Hither thither like glass marbles
Thrown by novice pre teen boys!

“Refugee “was the word that rang in my tender ears
as I grew up in post 1947 India
Grandpa who came as a refugee from across the brand new border told stories of unbelievable horror

Images of war ravaged countries creating havoc
on the television screen
Makes the heart
lurch drunkenly
trying to ascertain why we
need to mutilate and maim

Life floating like a rudderless raft on the heaving oceans
Ripped apart from shelter
Hunger gnawing ferociously
Woebegone babies wailing
Limbs lying in a careless heap
Shrieks of widows echoing in the wilderness of hearts made with the same concrete as the monstrous sky scrapers they build!

Give us refuge dear Lord
for we flounder
We grab we steal we murder
We drive out humans from their homes
We snatch mouthfuls of food from school going children
Grant us mercy o Lord for we live in our self created hells each living day
Gather our marbles for us
We are your refugees o lord!

Copyright Lily Swarn13.1.2016