Poem #1279: They Can Only Imagine

“I imagine in Syria, there are rainbows.” — Ahmed
has learned everything he knows about
Syria from his grandmother.
Almost 2.7 million Syrian refugee children
have grown up outside their country. — UNHCR

They can only imagine

And reignite the imagined

With colored pencils

And desks as their easels

They can only imagine

What home used to be

And tell gutted stories

With a child's crayon

Simple yet vivid imagery

Like painted sad songs

Ballads in graffiti

They can only imagine

Places of exotic beauty

From folktales

Woven by granny

Of epic power fails

And from memory unseen

They create tomorrow redeemed

They can only imagine

A heavy burden

All of a sudden

Shoved on their shoulder

A baton tossed over

How they bear it further

Is yet to be seen

We can only imagine.

Akpan