The American Dream 1 The Refugee

The American Dream 1 The Refugee

Wading through flooded rivers in the night

To evade the troops patrolling highways

Carrying their children on their backs

To prevent them from being washed away

Dragging a plastic suitcase along a trail

Where hordes of mosquitoes lie in wait

The fear of the bite and the log sleep

Risking exploitation by traffikers

Praying they can avoid gangs of bandits

And the unofficial militias seeking bounty

Escaping jungle burned to clear a forest

Behind them they leave a greater fear

That of the door knock in the night

Because the views they hold are hated

The shadows of persecution hang over them

For others the crops have failed again

Or the land taken for commercial farms

Where produce is sold overseas

Farmlands stolen to grow flowers

To fill the vases in western homes

Villages destroyed to make way for a dam

Water supplies disrupted to produce soda

Fleeing from disasters and drought

From persecution and revolution

From somewhere comes the American Dream

A promise of a life in a ‘Land of the free’

Where food and shelter can at last be found

A home and an opportunity to earn a living

The promise of a future for their children

Where happiness and freedom join hands

A place they see as a promised land

A welcoming given to strangers

To live at last the American Dream

Copyright: David Hopcroft November 2025