Nowhere else to go

Boatloads of starving refugees,
fleeing their country in terror,
in search of a safe haven,
arrive on our shore seeking shelter.

They tell the horrors endured,
Herded off the boats, confined,
fed and given time to rest,
then sent back out to sea.

Humanity at its ugliest,
empathy missing, compassion lost,
Fear to open our door,
for then we become their guardians.

Reaching our shores weak and starving,
a sight that is heartbreaking,
where do you send a people
with nowhere else to go.

From the arrival of Vietnamese and Bosnian refugees,
Each time I have closed my heart slowly.
And today came the Rohingya refugees.
Don’t judge me my lack of compassion.

How can any country get away,
with atrocities committed to its people.
This barbaric thing called ethnic cleansing,
is nothing more than mass murder.

Wake up nations of the world!
Displaced people in foreign lands,
their numbers keep growing, in leaps and bounds.
In my hometown I have become the foreigner.

By C.E. Pereira
(19-5-2015)