Walk my dear refugees, 
Sweep the soul, cleanse it and spray your fragrance of love.  
Draw the map of minds forming alleys, roads, inner thoughts as the brain assembles soldiers. 
Walk between hate trees as your head nudges the fruits of life that fall on the world.  
 
Walk my dear refugees, 
The mountains big, small, dark shiny and scattered everywhere like milk smashed on pitch black table. 
The sky stabbed the clouds and now it’s raining thorns on you. 
The stream water dances to your heart beat 
The moon reflected in your thoughts. 
The wall sensed you, like a sniffer dog trained to target refugees.  
 
Walk my dear refugees, 
The stairs, the doors, the whole world ready to burn itself and burn you with it. 
The mud stuck into shoes while roaming the earth is a stain which mucks your hearts 
Walk like a tear on a waterproof cheek 
Like a river that went on strike last millennium now water full.  
Here is my heart, use it as a boat  
 
Walk my dear refugees, 
Until destiny spit you to the European shores. 
Stretch your arms as you sail and pluck roses to gift to the world 
The trees bow towards one another to form a love heart as you reach safety. 
The world disappeared into your hands as we shook our dirt of one another 
In a land of humanity you walk  
Walk my dear refugees.  

Amir Darwish is a British Syrian poet & writer of Kurdish origin who lives in London, having arrived in Britain as an asylum-seeker in 2003. His poetry has been translated into Arabic, Bengali, Estonian, Finnish, Italian, Spanish, and Turkish. Collections include Dear Refugee (Smokestack, 2019) & Don’t Forget the Couscous (Smokestack, 2015)
Poetry submissions to [email protected]