Cold winds advance
Sweeping out the insect feast
Of one mind, birds lift from lakes and trees
Rising like a wintry yeast
Feathered rainbows on certain course
Fly south on ancient instinct’s wings
To new fields without remorse
Armed troops advance
Churning sorrow in their vicious wake
The displaced flee without recourse
In terror with no time to take
The past reduced to what they bear
Across borders to grudging havens
Relying on strangers who care
_____________
Copyright Deborah McGlauflin, February 1996. All rights reserved
To my grateful amazement, this poem actually won second place in the One World poetry contest some years back.