Poems Primarily Narrative (or not)

Refugees - Our Shame

They came in waves from savaged lands

parents and children gripping hands

the elderly, the halt, the lame

fleeing from a nation's shame

through empty fields and unwelcome woods

clutching all their earthly goods

For some a lifetime lived in war

for others praying nevermore

homes gone, destroyed in rage

by those relentless in terror they wage

lives spent without a thought

through devastation they have wrought

Now like animals they run to find

that sanctuary left behind

the need is met with razor wire

and not the help that they desire

so against the fences thousands mass

trampled hopes on trampled grass

Like cattle milling unrestrained

anger boils and cries are pained

where to go, they can't go back

trapped in horror's cul-de-sac

cold faces from behind the fence

implementing homeland defense

No mercy.

Tens of thousands died at Powder Creek, Sand Creek,

Little Wolf and Wounded Knee.

Thousands more on the Trail of Tears.

Millions of African slaves to Europe, America,

The Caribbean and elsewhere on their own continent.

The Irish Famine drove hundreds of thousands

from their hovels. No skills, education and too poor to leave.

More died of cholera than hunger.

The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River,

probably an area with the densest population in the world,

forced hundreds of towns and villages to be evacuated

and displaced millions of people to accommodate

the reservoir. Compensation was minimal

and in some cases none.

Shameful snapshots of our history, just a few of hundreds in the frame

inured to rejecting any plea and disdaining any thought of blame.

We must find a way for this to cease and build anew on a principle of peace.