7 Resonant Refugee Poems

Poems about refugees speak of the profound human experience of leaving one’s homeland and seeking safety and hope in foreign lands.

These verses portray the resilience of refugees, highlighting their courage in the face of adversity and their yearning for a better life. These poems often shed light on the plight of displaced individuals and the challenges they endure, evoking empathy and compassion in readers.

They may also call for a greater understanding of the global refugee crisis, urging society to open its arms to those seeking refuge and build a world that welcomes and supports displaced communities.

Poems about Refugees Visual Representation

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Look We Have Coming to Dover!

by Daljit Nagra

‘Look We Have Coming to Dover’ offers a bleak but hopeful glimpse of England through the eyes of immigrants risking it all to become citizens.

The poem captures the plight of refugees through its visceral portrayal of displacement and struggle. It emphasizes survival against systemic rejection, highlighting the liminal space refugees occupy within society, balancing hope with hardship. This topic is deeply integrated into the poem’s emotional core.

Stowed in the sea to invade

the alfresco lash of a diesel-breeze

ratcheting speed into the tide, brunt with

gobfuls of surf phlegmed by cushy come-and-go

tourists prow'd on the cruisers, lording the ministered waves.

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We Refugees

by Benjamin Zephaniah

‘We Refugees’ emphasizes shared vulnerability to displacement, urging empathy for refugees and challenging prejudice.

The poem is mainly about people who are forced to leave their homes and become refugees. Zephaniah writes about how this can happen to anyone, not just people from faraway places. He shows that being a refugee isn’t a choice, it’s something that happens when life becomes too dangerous. He wants us to understand that refugees are people who need help, not judgment.

I come from a musical place

Where they shoot me for my song

And my brother has been tortured

By my brother in my land.

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The New Colossus

by Emma Lazarus

Emma Lazarus’ ‘The New Colossus’ epitomizes the welcoming spirit of the Statue of Liberty, engraved on its pedestal to inspire millions.

The poem directly speaks to refugees, offering them comfort and reassurance as they flee difficult situations. It acknowledges that many people arriving in America have faced poverty, rejection, or oppression. The Statue of Liberty is described as a protective figure, letting them know they are wanted and valued. The poem makes it clear that they are no longer outcasts but have found a safe and welcoming home.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

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Walking Across the Brooklyn Bridge, July 1990

by Sujata Bhatt

‘Walking Across the Brooklyn Bridge, July 1990’ despairs over the normalization of violence against children while acknowledging the hopes cradled by refugee parents.

In the latter half of the poem, the speaker mentions reading about Vietnamese refugees trying to get into New York. Their mind inevitably turns to the parents amongst them, musing over their dedication, sacrifice, and willingness to endure anything they must for the sake of their kids. As a result, the refugees become a powerful contrast to the rampant adolescent death overtaking the city.

In New York

children are being shot

to death this summer.

It’s usually an accident.

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Refugee Mother and Child

by Chinua Achebe

‘Refugee Mother and Child’ depicts a mother’s love in a war-torn setting, contrasting life’s fragility with deep maternal bonds.

The people in the poem are refugees, forced from their homes by war and left to suffer in overcrowded camps. Achebe focuses on one mother, but her story represents many others facing the same struggles. This topic shows how conflict uproots families and leaves them in situations where basic needs are hard to meet. It captures the sense of displacement and loss that so many refugees feel in times of conflict.

No Madonna and Child could touch

that picture of a mother's tenderness

for a son she soon would have to forget.

The air was heavy with

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Immigration

by Ali Alizadeh

‘Immigration’ by Ali Alizadeh is a captivating look at the positives, negatives, and the emotional and mental toll that immigration takes.

While not explicitly mentioned, 'Immigration' indirectly touches upon the experiences of refugees. The poem conveys the hardships, marginalization, and discrimination faced by individuals who are forced to flee their homes due to conflict or persecution.

I’ll tell you why. To survive the onslaught of religion. To outlive

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Home

by Warsan Shire

The lines “no one leaves home unless/ home is the mouth of a shark” that made us rethink the global refugee crisis, appear in Somali-British poet Warsan Shire’s poem ‘Home.’ This poem vividly depicts the lived experiences of the refugees both inside and outside of their countries.

no one leaves home unless

home is the mouth of a shark

you only run for the border

when you see the whole city running as well

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7 Resonant Refugee Poems

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7 Resonant Refugee Poems

Look We Have Coming to Dover!

by Daljit Nagra

We Refugees

by Benjamin Zephaniah

The New Colossus

by Emma Lazarus

Walking Across the Brooklyn Bridge, July 1990

by Sujata Bhatt

Refugee Mother and Child

by Chinua Achebe

Immigration

by Ali Alizadeh

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