Kid Hayden Cohen

Kid

When I saw that kid with the red t-shirt and blue shorts on
Still as rock and face down in the sand
My heart missed a beat.
I couldn’t believe that it’d come to this.
A pissed off dictator fighting some pissed off extremists
And here this kid in the sand with no life ahead of him.
I know I’m not on my own.
Millions of people donating time and clothes and food and money,
But something seems a little funny.
Only a few days ago the papers were saying that the trains were delaying
And we should be blaming greedy immigrants.
We should be praying that our infrastructure holds up.
That we need to shore up these human beings in inhumane conditions
Because that’s only fair
And I can’t believe that people didn’t care.
And I can’t believe that most still don’t.
A Prime Minister who wants to stop them in their tracks.
I’m aghast with the misery
Of a government that’s had polling done
To say that more voters care about their own misguided privet hedged security
Than the pursuit of absolute humanity.
My ancestors escaped persecution from Tsarist Russia over 100 years ago.
They ran for their lives
As soldiers brandished knives
Screaming liberation
Against innocent civilians
And here we are again.
Nothing’s changing.
Fear as a weapon.
But at least I’m white and I’m nice.
My pasty white skin a camouflage
So I can live it up large in a country that made my grandparents parents welcome.
And I’m not alone.
You find me a so-called “indigenous” Brit and I’ll show you a fraud
When you're dead you stop being a lady or lord.
I try not to preach, but let me say this.
If you hear anyone say that those immigrants should go back home
Look them in the eye and tell them they’re full of shit.

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Photos from Wikimedia - Music: "Crossing the Divide" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/