Germany, you are not what you pretend to be
When on 1 May my face was touched by
Police fists before the sun.
Germany, you are not what you pretend to be
When your womb gives birth to weapons
That take the innocence from the faces of our children
Before their lips are touched by the moon.
Germany, you are not what you pretend to be
When your politics provide fertile soil for oppression
When those who cry out for justice are silenced
And their voices are swallowed up in political noise.
Germany, you are not what you pretend to be
When the diversity and tolerance you invoke
Are suffocated by hatred and intolerance
And those who are ‘different’ are regarded as threats
Because they could steal your dentist appointment.
Germany, you are not what you pretend to be
When the borders are open to some, but stay closed to others
And those fleeing war and persecution
Look into an uncertain future.
Germany, you are not what you pretend to be
As long as those who should serve hold a protecting hand over those who would have our lives,
While parents in Hanau still smell the blood over their children.
Germany, I am desperately searching for a place of refuge.
What remains is the emptiness left by the blow to my face.
What remains is my soul, which is now trapped within your walls.
Unity and justice and freedom.
Now you force me to flee from you.
