Escape Route
by Marjorie Lotfi Gill
Syrian Journey: Choose your escape route
(“If you were fleeing Syria for Europe,
what choices would you make for you and
your family? Take our journey to understand
the real dilemmas the refugees face.”)
There was the game of counting
gunshots in a riot,
and buying cigarettes
for our too-blonde mother;
the game of the school set on fire
while we were still in it,
and counting the minutes
until the return of my brother.
There was the game of one toy
for the journey,
of taking my lunchbox
and filling it instead;
the game of hiding mother
on the way to the airport,
father at the barrier
while we went ahead.
There was the game of turning
your ring inwards,
giving it to the man at the gate
to let you pass;
the game of finding your seat
on the flight,
counting those standing in the aisle
who got on last.
There was the game of rising too far
through cloud,
then descending again
over the border;
the game of picking
a runway and landing,
our radar stripped out so we wouldn’t
make it over.