Refugees who have fled from Karen State in Burma to Thailand have described life in the refugee camps as being like living as birds in a cage, or fish in a pond.
Caged birds, fed by strangers, not allowed to fly
Patiently wait for the release of the cage door
Birds may be born to fly, but not all are allowed
They cannot work, they cannot dream and they cannot soar
They cannot go happily home to their familiar hills
Back to their pretty, peaceful and pleasant land
They cannot celebrate who it is they really are
Cannot shout out in anger, cannot raise their hands
They are fed by welcome strangers from far, far away
But long to stand up tall and strong, just as before,
Like they did until the deadly rains of fire came
Like they did until the coming of the brutal war
Many of the birds do not know how to fly at all
Born in the cage, have never spread their wings
Living within the high, steep forbidding walls
Like Maya, they too know why the caged bird sings
They are owned by such ambivalent owners
While a distracted world looks away
Soaring hills around the camp look so beautiful
But soon crowd in as walls of the cage
Not living lives they were truly meant to live
Sitting in the camp, watching the river flow
They are the fish in a pond, swimming round and round
While the fish in the river are free to go
Dedicated to all those stuck in Karen refugee camps in Thailand and all others trapped in refugee camps around the world.
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