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Red T-shirt, blue shorts
Alan Kurdi from Syrian Kobane
lies still in the arms
of his would-be rescuer.
Trainers no longer needed.
Over the Aegean Sea farmers
no longer sow their seeds. Merchants
no longer trade in cities reduced
as an earthquake would reduce.
Her shoe laces taken from her
Yanela from Honduras
clings to her mother.
Crossing the Rio Grande
Jemina Valencia from El Salvador
rejected without pity.
Voice trembling
she called for her papa.
Wide eyed with shock and fear
his school bag still on him.
A Yemeni child from Saada province
On the Arabian peninsula.
His school friends on the school bus
the reporter warns us
shattered bodies
too gruesome to be shown on TV
while we’re having our tea.
This is a poem about children globally being the victims — targets — of war which also references Donald Trump’s policy of dividing families.
Poetry on the Picket Line is a squad of like-minded poets putting themselves about to read their work on picket lines, in the spirit of solidarity. Invitations to rallies etc. welcome, contact facebook.com/pg/PicketLinePoets.