- Zoha Qureshi
The Refugee
Trapped in this sterile prison
Long after the sun has left the sky
My body convulsing in ways I’ve never known
Waiting for your arrival to come by
Pain
Mama, oh Mama, I need her now
In my fantasies she was with me
Witnessing the miracle of life
Her absence tonight stings terribly
Pain
I look to my right and I see
The man that I should love
Our bond fractured by the toll
Of our journey we don’t speak of
Pain
Our wedding, planned in haste
In the backdrop of war and bloodshed
And the lights and sounds around us
We imagined were fireworks instead
Pain
And suddenly we were running
Just as quickly as we were wed
Through deserts and mountains and oceans
Thousands of miles we fled
Pain
And you were also present
Cradled for months within my womb
Enduring the arduous trek
I fear I’ve given you an early tomb
Pain
Is it worth bringing you into this world?
You don’t deserve the cruelty
The suffering, the torture I’ve seen
May your innocence keep you free
Pain
Oh sweet child of mine
The irony is not lost, I wonder
You will be born in the very land
That tore mine asunder
Pain
The doctors and nurses around me
Envelop me with their foreign cries
Their message gets across though
With the intensity in their eyes
Pain
I try to push and push and push
But my body has betrayed me
Ravaged by the toll of my escape
But for you I must gather my energy
Pain
Pain
PAIN
And then
A startling, loud cry
Like music to my ears
Amazing how one tiny human
Can dissolve all my fears
