(by Admasu Girma from Ethiopia.  Taken from “Tilted Cages, An Anthology of Refugee Writings” edited by Flutter and Solomon 1995)

Free bird,
Free bird.
What good luck,
you have.
What good chance,
that it is your right
to fly freely,
with no document,
with no passport,
to pass through
all continents,
beach of Australia to Ivory Coast.
As you like,
day and night,
having nice song
sung in delight.
To take recreation
In the Falklands
to be joyful in England.

O free bird,
let me mention
some questions.
Who has ears to pay attention?
Who has eyes for affection?
My free bird,
don’t say to me,
”Are you mad?”
I know that
I am crying
for nothing…
only to show you
my feelings.