Have You?

By Aisha Sethi

Have you met a refugee ever ?
Have you ever met a refugee ?
Have you met a refugee ?
who has lost his land, his house, his hope
Have you met a refugee …
who has lost his arm, his leg, his soul
have you met a refugee
Who has lost his will to live,his family, his children
Have you met a refugee
A child who has lost his parents, his brother, his sister
Have you met a refugee
Who has walked miles and miles
till he has sores on his bare feet
But his true ache is for freedom
Have you met a refugee
A child who has seen darkness
way before his young life’s time
who has has held his mother dying in his arms
Have you met a refugee
A child who can smile still
but the eyes are full of sadness and despair
Have you met a refugee
A girl child who has no choice but to marry
because thats the only way to safety
Have you met a refugee
A child who has been raped,hit, burnt
Have you met a refugee
who has nothing left
Nothing left but just hope
Does faith not teach you to turn the other cheek
Does faith not teach you to take care of the meek
Turning away will now cost humanity more
As you reject these people away from the shore
For now what you take away is hope
and hope is the light they were using to cope
with horrors and dark terror they had to endure
Have you ever met a refugee ?
A child, a woman, a man
Now look at your family
cherish them – your loved ones some more
Now meet a refugee, hear their story
and Imagine that what you cherished was no more
Have you met a refugee ?
Look at your face and listen to your heart now
Do the right thing now – for them, for you
Get yourself out of this sinking dark hole
And now take refuge in your enlightened soul

 

Aisha Sethi is an Associate Professor in Dermatology and Infectious Diseases, and the Assistant Director Outreach at the Center for Global Health, University of Chicago.