We mustn’t forget how we got
To be who we are and where we are;
Looking at the photographs
Of family members from the past,
Many of whom we don’t recognise,
Elderly women and elderly guys,
People from previous generations
Who came here from other nations
Each with their stories, so many forgotten,
Trying to clamber from rock bottom,
Running from strife, to build a new life;
Seeking security, husband and wife
Who wouldn’t have met had they not left their homes
And taken a journey into the unknown.
Living in tenements, scratching a living,
Taking no handouts but constantly giving.
With children and in laws, nephews and nieces,
Now all scattered in separate pieces;
Deliberately seeking integration
Throughout their new adopted nation
As pillars of society,
Pictures of sobriety;
Proud of time and effort spent
Joining the establishment.
So from around the Country
Two meet at University
And find that they’re branches of the same tree.
Neither knew the other existed;
Long lost cousins with brothers and sisters,
Becoming firm friends without having to try,
To share pictures and stories of times gone by.