By Masimba Mukichi.
Wandering souls, traumatised victims of war
Have nothing treasurable on them to show,
Except memoirs of trauma, from the heartland
of Syria,Sudan,Somalia,Libya and Afghanistan
Scars of torture and rape overwhelmed them
Fear of grisly beheadings and bleak future,
urged them on to seek sanctuary in lands afar
Aboard the dingy boat serenity prevailed
They thought a brighter future was in sight
As hazy sky gleaned crimson under the setting sun,
their boat capsized, and they didn’t get help.
Without safety jackets survival was a tall-order
Pregnant women wailed and prayed in vain,
as they fell into the sea like broken toys,
tossed like paper blowing in the wind at speed.
They all succumbed to the angel of death
Violent waves shoved them beneath the sea,
To their final refuge – to their final Europe,
And with broken hearts, they lay dead,
unburied, unburied, unburied
Hope shattered and scattered.

