You Look Like Me
Your smile glows like mine
Tears drop when we’re crying
Hunger hurts me and you
Yet hope fills us anew
Perhaps our names differ
But your words seem familiar
The same struggles we face
As our pay vanishes with no trace
The soil feeds us together
Both of us wary of nature
Your mountain ends in my valley
My river flows into your sea
Could I have been there
And you here?
Are our gods separate
Or is this a quirk of fate?
When the fire of hatred spread
Why did you only see me?
You should have looked at yourself
For
You look like me
**
You (Still) Look Like Me
Do you wonder where I am, neighbor?
What I eat
Or do all day long?
Those, whose words incited you
Tell me
Do they know your name
Or that of your last born?
How is she anyway?
Does she ask of her friend
The one we had to leave behind?
Did you ever try to find me, neighbor?
Even if you welcomed me with open arms
I would not come back
For
You fought without a cause
As the time approaches
Whispers hang heavy in the air
Remember me when you see your neighbor
And look at yourself
For
You also look like him
SONYA KASSAM 
Beautifully penned Sonia. A timely reminder that we should strive to focus on the sameness and not the difference. Like this.
LikeLike
Thank you, Bob. I somehow missed this comment. Though we must appreciate our differences, that is what makes the world go round.
LikeLike
This is a great tribute to a not-so-great event as you wrote it for. It conveys the same sense of oneness that my tribute on the Rwandan genocide anniversary does. I love these lines:
“You should have looked at yourself
For
You look like me”.
They particularly sound like my question “Will you be my brother?”
Poem posted here: http://wp.me/p1hjCh-j7
LikeLike
Yes, soon as I read your tribute I felt it was all too familiar. Thank you for reading this poem and leaving your thoughts on it. Wherever we hail from, let us pray for peace for one another.
LikeLike
Greetings,
I love this…a lot.
I love the sense of *relation* that is conveyed in every word.
Thank you for it.
All good wishes,
robert
LikeLike
the common thread runs through all of us
thanks
LikeLike
Deep. Food for thought. We can agree to disagree without killing each other.
LikeLike
Absolutely. Thank you for your comments and for visiting follow your shadow.
LikeLike