national poetry month and april fools

April is National Poetry Month, an annual celebration launched in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry. Every Tuesday for this month and perhaps some other days, too, I will share a poem to make you think and wonder, and hopefully give you a smile through this form of literary art.

Refugees

by Brian Bilston

They have no need of our help So do not tell me These haggard faces could belong to you or I 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.)

I'll bet that when you were about halfway through this poem you thought, "Wow. Why would she share a poem like this? Is she really one of those cold hearted people?"  

Then you read the poem again, from the bottom up, and you think, Wow! How did Brian Bilston pull this off?"

Reverse poetry is a poem that can be read forwards (top to bottom) and have one meaning, but can also be read backwards (bottom to top) and have a different meaning. One poem offering two perspectives is very powerful.