All That They Want

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John’s latest poems include one about the plight of the migrants coming across the Mediterranean to Europe:

All that they want

All that they want is to live in peace.

All that they want is to be free.

All that they want is to find a country

Where they can live like you and like me.

 

All that they wanted was a future

Across the sea in another land.

All that they wanted was a safe passage.

All that they needed was a helping hand.

 

But all that the others wanted was money.

They said it was safe but they lied.

They didn’t care about the people.

They didn’t care if they lived or died.

 

All that he wanted was somewhere for his children

Where they could grow up safe and free

But what a terrible price he paid

When the boat capsized and they drowned in the sea.

 

All that the others wanted was money

They didn’t care about the lives that were lost

As they counted the note with blood on their hands,

The grieving father counted the cost.

 

All that they want is to live in peace,

In freedom and in harmony.

All that they want is to find a country

Where they can live like you and like me.

 

©John Foster 2015

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