Today I shook
The hand of a man
Who truly has suffered
But lived his life
He is from Sudan
On his face
A story is told
Sun made wrinkles
Make him look old
His dark complexion
Shows who he is
A Lost Boy
He saw death
But refused to die
He fought for his life
And earned every second
His parents shot down
Right before his five year old eyes
So he turned and ran
And never looked back
Through starvation and thirst
He walked the hard land
Over one thousand miles
Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya
All called home
But never truly settled
His entire past gone
Lost in gun shots and screams
Blue rivers run red
But still this boy ran
Trying to keep up his head
Trying not to fall in the sand
His fellow comrades
The other lost children
Trek along desert ridges
Across barren lands
Nowhere in mind
Just trying to survive
Carried everything on his back
His history and hardships
A burden weighed down
Something pushing from behind
To keep him from falling down
So many fallen who never get back up
His name on a board
That guided his destiny
Brought him from nothing
But gave him everything
From Kenya to America
He traveled at last
To freedom, a home
But her could never forget his past
So he took what he had
And made something of it
Finally coming to our school
To tell us his story
Of a time so sad
He stands here before us
Showing his burden
Sharing his life
At the end of it all
I shook the hand of a man
Who had earned his way
Rough calloused hands
With a strong hard grip
That never let go
But yet still he smiles
Even after his time
Traveling through lands
Of blood and fire
To find a home
He is a Lost Boy
Torn from his home
At only five years old