Refugees

by Alicia Benjamin-Samuels

The Los Angeles boys are victims of a civil war
Apathy against the oppressed
Most days they dodge attacks from the wild animals
The armed forces
The hostile locals
This is the year they eat dust
Taste the sweet lick of heroin
Roll back their heads
Drift into a space where they find sanctuary

The Nashville souls are in the abyss
These boys are drowning in the families they have to cross
Many of them know their fathers are dead
Physically or otherwise
They sometimes live on their own
Knowing hunger, fear, desperate childhoods
They've been wandering
Going from home to gang to jail

The East New Yorkers are a scattered crew
Some flee the trauma of foster parents and group homes
Never to see their parents again
Buses and subways don't provide enough distance for some
They've spent so much time on the run
Finally they find shelter in New Jersey, Philadelphia or Delaware
But it's hard to leave the past behind
There's still the famine in their eyes
That won't ever be forgotten
Some feel guilty for finding the green beyond the desert

The rest remain in war zones
Ducking the demons
Looking for refuge in America

Alicia Benjamin-Samuels is a writer and lives in Nashville, Tenn.

© Copyright 2001-05 Seeing Black, Inc. All Rights Reserved.