Refugee

I’m running away from yesterday
I’m running fast and free
I’m running from the mountains
down to a darkened sea.
I’m fleeing persecution
I’m escaping tyranny
I’ve put my trust in freedom
and in your humanity.
I’ve put my trust in others
in the hope we’ll all be free.

But you say that you’ll decide
who can come and who can stay
who’ll be jailed or sent away
who will live and who will die
who will smile and who will cry.

What shrunken soul decreed
that I am not in need
of shelter and protection
who ordered interdiction
who insisted on inspection?

Who lives on milk and honey
hailing the free flow of money
preventing free movement of labour
who’s the criminal, who the savior?
Deciding who to keep out and who to let in
who’s without remorse, who’s without sin?

 Written in 2010 not published.