***This is dedicated to the Iraqi family I met in Jordan almost a year ago, and to all the refugees scattered all over the world…
I attempted to write a poem about your suffering …
Then I realized….
I don’t know what it’s like…
I don’t know the fear you lived every time you heard the whistle of a missile.
I don’t know the panic you endured when you’d hear the destruction of another home… praying it wasn’t someone you knew….
I don’t know how many tears you cried… Or how many you couldn’t anymore after you lost loved one after loved one, friend after friend.
I don’t know how many unseen wounds you carry around on a daily basis…
I don’t know how if feels to not only lose friends and loved ones, but also your country….
I don’t know how it feels to lose a livelihood, freedom and choice…
I don’t know how it feels to be at the mercy of another people group – another country…
I don’t know how it feel to be stripped away from the language you and your family have spoken for generations, and now having to learn a new one….
I’m sorry I have not understood … I cannot imagine your pain… I don’t know what it’s like to suffer like you have, but I know one who did…
I pray that in the midst of your pain… in the midst of this dark hour… you would know you’re not alone… The one who made you… The one who fashioned your eyes, hands, feet and body…. loves you.
And until I meet you, you are in my heart… please don’t give up… you have a story the world needs to hear… the lessons of traveling through this dark valley needs to be taught….
I’m so sorry for your loss. Thank you for your courage…
