The Environmental Issue: Poetry Roundup

This issue, we feature a poem by A.A Saba

Europe by A.A. Saba

We came seeking refuge in your streets because you destroyed and violated the homes of our ancestors

we came with memories of our loved ones in our souls and with two empty hands

trying to keep our children safe

We are the dreamers who wandered through your hypocritical borders

and you dare to call us savages after the madness you made us walk through

I came as I was

I came as I am

finding scattered fragments of my soul on your streets

still remember how your pulse tickled my heart and the colors of your streets intoxicated my eyes

but

the foundation of my love for you is gone because I sense eyes following my shadow and I see how the wind is dancing with whispering lies

the veil has blown away and all I see is your ugly scars and you trying to force me back to the time of hating the skin I have and the name you can't pronounce

Let me remind you of who I am and where I come from

I am the product of a warrior Queen who taught me how to fly with broken wings

I am the daughter of the lost King whose spirit you crushed in his youth

I am the result of all the dirty secrets your history books are hiding

I am the reminder of your bloodstained hands touching Babylon and messing with free souls whose ghosts are coming to hunt you down now

I am your bastard who demands to be heard

your bastard who demands a seat by the table

I have watched how old dreamers come to you with confidence and leaving you with another piece missing from their spirit and I feel how fear grabs my hand,

telling me that can be my future too

For what is a poet if not a hopeless dreamer?

Lost, like the sand in the desert