They came and stood in queues
As we drew a line in God’s undivided land
And called it ours
Labelled them migrants

They came and stood bereft of emotions
War ravaged and dry eyed
Robbed of tears
That had long been spent

They came and stood with children
Similar to our own
Ours would sleep in a warm bed tonight
And wipe away a crust of bread from their mouth

The came and stood in silence
For the screams had lost their relevance
Their voices had gone hoarse
And their sunken eyes screamed silent desperation

They came and stood with unease
With hands that had never sought anything
Proud, capable, dignified
Reduced today to seeking, needing, wanting

They came and stood with slates wiped clean
Shards of happy memories gnawing, drawing blood
Fragments of laughter ringing in their ears
Love and land ripped away by the hands of fate and man

They came and stood in suspended animation
Without a past or a future
Uprooted, displaced, without yesterdays or tomorrows
Robbed of space and time

They came and stood in no man’s land
With no papers spelling entitlements
No motherland to claim, no language in which to converse
Thrust into the unknown of soul-erasing oblivion

Come, stand in their shoes
Walk barefoot in their path
Come recognize they are us
Come wipe away those lines

The lines in your hearts
The lines in your minds
The lines in your lands
The land that was never yours to claim

Wipe away the tears
Wipe away the angst
Wipe away the pain
And recognize your eyes, staring back at you

From another face.
k.g.