Europe on Trial

Now the eyes of all the world are fixed on Greece

As the number of refugees increase

All hoping that she will lend a loving hand

To those ravaged war-torn victims come to land.

The Mediterranean carried them o’er her waves

And became a grave for those she could not save

Those souls whose callous circumstances made them bold

To face the sea with all its waves and wind and intense cold.

Obedient to the desperate feelings of their hearts

Without adieu, they took to sea and made a start

Fleeing from the death squads who unleash their arms

And have created havoc and widespread death and harm.

Death and destruction mar the streets of Homs

And machine guns and falling bombs

Have brought great buildings down to rubble

And spread dismay and fear and trouble.

Aleppo too is now a burning char

Whose looks describe the fierceness of the war

And the sufferings that it brought on human beings

Trapped in the ambit of such tragic scene.

And on the outskirts of Damascus too

Men wander on in torment and with rue

As opposing forces, callous and abhorrent

Fight to defend or unseat the government.

Collateral damage is what they call the victims

Whose charred remains expose how grim

The scenes of deprivation and of pain

Stand out for those who in those cities do remain.

How could the living therefore seek to stay,

When they might never live to see another day?

For in the midst of such prevailing fire,

If they remain, they could very well expire.

Yes, “refugees” is what they call them

Syria’s children fleeing from anguish and torment

And death and fury in their streets

And the lack and scarcity of bread and meat.

So now in hundreds and in thousands

By the gates of Greece the displaced people stand

And we can find them at the centres in Polykastro

And also in the neighbouring Oraiokastro.

Yes, they came to land at Sofex, Lesbos and Cos

And there they enter too at Chios and at Samos

And further afield peril took them on to Leros

Also some landed at Elaionas and Skaramagos.

Greece is the gate at which the refugees are knocking,

At which their sea battered vessels are now docking

And in this their hour of pain and peril

Greece must now manifest its finest human will.

So now in tents and makeshift shelters, on the land of Greece

In search of love and warmth and peace

And by their presence there set out their case

On morality and the virtues of the human race.

Greece and all of Europe must now stretch forth a hand

To the strangers at their gates and on their land

Those men and women travelling from afar

Uprooted by the vicious hands of war.

And in the snowy and the frigid air

The homeless folks are filled with fear

Who would not feel the sorrows of such displaced men?

For the frigid air can make a corpse of them.
And there amidst such brutal and such callous wind

None can in good conscience ever rescind

The promise to reach out, protect and give

Those homeless folks a place to sleep and live.

Oh Europe, share with them your bread

And the comfort and the warmth of bed

And give the suffering stranger a place to live

And of the riches of Europe do comfort them and give.

Yes! Greece and all of Europe are on trial

And in this case, there can be no denial

For the rest of all the world now stand as witness

Attesting to Greece and Europe‘s meanness or their kindness.