Our Lady of Mercy College is blessed to have a fantastic Library Team who continuously and passionately inspire and encourage our students to read.
This month, students enjoyed a beautiful display focusing on books about refugees and the Mercy value of Compassion. The display featured Brian Bilston's book called 'Refugees'.
'Refugees' is a poem of two voices. It needs to be read twice. The first one sees the people fleeing from war and persecution and asks, "Why here? Why my country? But when you read the text the opposite way, from bottom to top, a new voice emerges. It is the voice of Compassion. It says, "Why not make them welcome?
The poem has a powerful hidden message:
The world can be looked at in another way!
REFUGEES
They have no need of our help
So do not tell me
These haggard faces could belong to you or me
Should life have dealt a different hand
We need to see them for who they really are
Chancers and scroungers
Layabouts and loungers
With bombs up their sleeves
Cut-throats and thieves
They are not
Welcome here
We should make them
Go back to where they came from
They cannot
Share our food
Share our homes
Share our countries
Instead let us
Build a wall to keep them out
It is not okay to say
These are people just like us
A place should only belong to those who are born there
Do not be so stupid to think that
The world can be looked at another way
(now read from bottom to top)
Thank you to Mrs Lynn Brown, Mrs Catherine Brandis and Mrs Sally Ball for setting up the beautiful display and sharing this little treasure with the students.