Asylum

For Amnesty International and the U.N. Refugee Agency

a step on solid sand

after a freezing crowded raft

on the Mediterranean

a rest in a glade of trees 

beyond Stalin’s barbwire border

a letter from a committed stranger

to your tyrant

for your freedom

as you cower in a stinking cell

a last glance out of a plane window

as you fly into exile

from the oppressed land of your birth

a sign with a Deutschmark on it

as you emerge from your tunnel

under the Berlin wall

a dancer’s leap to freedom

over his minder’s powerful arms

at Paris international airport

a soft welcoming voice in the darkness

as you stagger across a Myanmar border

fleeing as a homeless Rohingya

the last breath

as your last phone call to your family

fades in your ears in a lorry coffin

waiting for Border Control

where your coyote trafficker

has left you alone

waiting for your father

at the detention centre

as he is dragged away

freedom has the highest cost

when you have nothing to lose but your life