Homeless, hunted,

humans and animals,

food was scarce in the poor shelter,

and life was cheap to the powers that oppress.

—–

Pregnant in a wasteland,

like herded animals,

giving birth to children. For what fair future?

In a desert of war and violent vengeance.

—

Babies first breath,

hushed in fearfulness,

a mother fears to love her own,

for the heartbreak of loss in an uncertain place.

—-

The father hides,

his hopes smashed,

innocent and wrongly accused by malice

wanting his son, his wife’s only to live and thrive.

—-

A family under occupation,

sees only the next moment,

sleeps, alert to run, escaping slaughter,

flee to Egypt where today the gate is barred.