The Refugee

I dream of a place where people live in peace,
not a place where mines are buried beneath my feet.
You wake up to birds singing, and I, to guns ringing.
You sit at home cozy in your chair,
while I dodge bullets flying threw the air.
I'm twelve, I should be going to school today,
but the planes came again last night and blew it all away.
You think nothing of a plane flying by or a helicopter hovering,
but I hear the sounds and flee to the nearest covering.
I'm use to it though; wars been in my country for years,
but I'll never get use to losing my friends and family; shedding all those tears.
People in town say the place I dream of really exist,
but my Father warns me that the journey is too dangerous; to much of a risk.
Most who try, die of hunger, thirst or exhaustion,
or take the wrong short cut threw a minefield; die from the explosion.
Regardless of all that though, this is no place for a home,
My parents refuse to leave, so I've decided to try it alone.
I leave my family and home with no food or clothing,
but at least I'm finally leaving this town of sorrow, grief and loathing.
The first day I ran and ran, bodies strewn along the path,
not sure how many i saw, its too many, i can't even do the math.
The second day I joined a group that had left my village,
We walked for days, passing deserted towns, which for food we would pillage.
It was futile though, since we never found any,
we just ended up eating leaves, sad I know, but at least there was plenty.
Ten days have passed, many are starting to die,
and to make it worse, I see a few planes flying low in the sky.
Yes, just as I expected the planes attacked us,
but for once they were unsuccessful; they'll be back though, I trust.
My stomach is starting to hurt badly, i don't think im going to make it,
I've lost all hope, i'm giving up, i'm just about to quit.
When out of no where a call rings out, "The border!" is near in sight.
Adrenaline traces through my body as I run with all my might!
Finally we cross over, joyous for the first time in years
Here we are crying again but with a different kind of tears.
Soon we reach a special camp made for people like us,
where we are clothed, fed, cared for and then loaded on a bus.
We arrive at another camp, where we're given fresh clean beds to sleep on,
as i lie in bed I realize the sound of bombs are gone.
Months have passed since then, I now attend school again,
the sound of planes no longer frightens me, for they now bring food and medicine.
But all's not well, I miss my family especially my mom and dad,
I would like to go back home and visit them, when the war isn't so bad.
All in all my dream has come true,
and I trust my story in some way helps you,
to see that your life isn't so bad,
and that you should probably be thankful, if not very glad.

Copyrighted Daniel Mann.

Edited by Paul Quattrociocchi.