One Poem by Gifford Savage

 

Child Refugee



The warning had come in time.
Go now to a safe zone,
for death is snapping at your heels.
So they fled with the child,
taking just what they could carry –
they had little enough anyhow.
Others were not so fortunate.
Not all received a warning.
It is not, wrong, I think, to ask why.

They didn’t know when the border
had been crossed.
There was no line in the sand –
no notice announcing
we own the land where you stand.
Anxious to put distance from danger
fear still drove them on,
long after they were on foreign ground,
The little gold they carried would
secure food and shelter for a time at least,
as they hoped for kindness and hospitality.

Of course, they were not missed –
but they were safe,
at least for now.
No tyrant stalked their steps.
None even marked their going.
For the poor live, and die
unnoticed, nameless.
A mere footnote in the story.
After all –
what value the life of a child refugee?

Gifford Savage's poems have been published in various journals, including, 'Lothlorien Poetry Journal,' 'The Storms,' 'The Bangor Literary Journal,' 'The New verse News,' and 'Agape Review.' He was included in the CAP Anthology 'Across The Threshold, and was winner of the Aspects Festival Poetry Slam 2022.