Aleppo

When the bomb went off that killed your mother
And you left at midnight with your sister and your father
When you spent your first night sleeping amid the mortars
As your family made its way to the Turkish border
As you saw the dead and dying all around you
When there was nowhere you could hide, nothing you could do

And when you were living in a tent in Turkey
There along with a million other refugees
When your father said we must keep heading north to Sweden
That there we might live in a house again
As you slept out in the open beneath the darkness of the sky
Did you dream about your mama and her hazel eyes

Did you miss Aleppo and your nanny, Nenita
Did you wish you could be home in Syria

When you crammed into the raft that took you to dry land
Did your spirits lift a little when your father kissed the sand
Did you listen to him say now we must go to Macedonia
Did you hear somebody tell him it was better than Bulgaria
And as you ran across the border that took you out of Greece
And you saw your father being hit by the police

Did you miss Aleppo and your nanny, Nenita
Did you wish you could be home in Syria

When you packed into the truck, did you feel the trepidation
As it moved along the highway closer towards your destination
How soon did people realize, when did they begin to shout
How hard was your heart pounding before all the air ran out
What was your final dream from which you would not awaken
Did you wonder why your young life now was going to be taken

Or did you just miss Aleppo and your nanny, Nenita
Did you wish you could be home in Syria