Refugees

They drive us away from their doors. Their beautiful houses with marbled floors. They drive us away, even though they know that we have no place to stay. Our homes have been bombed or taken over by the enemies. For days we've had no shed over our heads except trees. We've been driven away from our home towns, forced to leave our families, friends and lawns. We don't have even a single penny in our pockets, they've brought down all our homes with their rockets. We don't want anything for us. No. Let us starve to death. But please do not deny my child his daily bread. He has not touched a single morsel in days. A loaf of bread is all for which he prays. We don't want you to pity us, we don't want your money or your aid. But don't turn away from us or look down upon us, we're also humans like you but our hearts have not turned to lead. We don't want you to set up camps and click photographs with us or come to visit us with your families on a tourist bus. We are not statues in a museum or the animals in the zoo, we are normal humans who have been driven by fate to you. I have a sister who has lost her son. There is another who has been robbed at the point of a gun. My brother has lost his wife, his daughter's throat has been slashed by a knife. Yet there is another whose daughter we can't find. Who can stop the dark thoughts about her fate that come into our minds? My husband has been lost at sea. Now, it's just my son and me. No one deserves a fate so gruesome. Let them not forget that even our time will come. People fight for animal rights but they have turned a deaf ear to our plights. We are not asking for revenge, just basic rights. Ever seen the face of your neighbourhood change over night? Have you ever woken up to the sound of a bomb blowing? Wherever you turn, there is innocent blood flowing. We are refugees, not criminals or terrorists. Humans, powerless in front of fate. Please don't drive us away if we happen to come, to ask for help, on your gate.