Please Sir by Helen Sherwin

Calm down little man,
Take a breath and sit down.
You have nothing to prove here,
Take your time –
For nothing breaks a person like rushing.

So much pushing,
Too much power.
Can’t you see the need to slow down a minute,
and just think?

These are real people,
Humans too.
Daughters, sons,
Old and young,
Everyone needs a home,
And you are closing the door on their whole world.

Without so much as a conversation,
a compromise,
a period of planning,
You are determined to throw people under the bus,
Water-boarding their sense of value,
And curtailing their freedom.

So, Please Sir –
Don’t be so arrogant as to wait for us to smile at you,
As you bark orders whilst smoothing your hair,
And willing us to massage your ego.
Because we won’t.
We can’t –
Until you respect our brothers.

“Please Sir” is written to, or perhaps more accurately about the current American President as he makes decisions about border control.  On the day of his executive order even people with green cards who had been travelling abroad couldn’t get back into America, leaving people stranded at airports and shut out of their home.  It had the overwhelming feeling of someone who hadn’t thought through the consequences of his actions and certainly hadn’t made any attempt to lessen the pain it would cause others. Slow down Mr President!

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