Grant Them Refuge (For Refugees In Europe) Poem by Bernedita Rosinha Pinto

They have not come out of their own wishes
circumstances and fear compelled them to run,
how suddenly they had to clutch their belongings
their children, their hopes, their anguish
and keep running, without knowing the direction
without knowing the roads or their destination;
some leaving behind old mothers and fathers
some parting ways with their sisters and brothers
all rushing away in quest of survival, of tomorrow;
they were not forgetting their hearts behind
they were carrying within, the love of their home,
their neighbourhood, their friends, their country;
and though they were running in any bus or boat
with babies in hands and the helpless in wheelchairs,
God did not forget them, neither they forgot God
as every door, every gate though closed, opened
accepting them offering food, shelter, clothing;
and as many and many more came in distress
the exodus larger than one at the Red Sea of Moses;
yet many countries, many cities, many towns
struggled to extend their hospitality, their warmth
and though without proper identities they flock
these lost sheep are the children of this universe;
with the element of love sprayed upon you by God
scatter compassion upon humanity in need
and just as you would seek help to heal your bruises
those wounds are theirs today and so are their pains
grant them refuge and relieve them of their distress
for, if you were they and they were you
would they have refrained from helping you?