Poem by Debora Singer
In 1939
Solomon flees Nazi persecution
and comes to England
sponsored by the kindness of strangers
A Christian family who give him bed and board
Subsequently,
detained on the Isle of Man
an enemy alien
surrounded again by fences
reminiscent of the barbed wire at Dachau
As a dentist,
released but not allowed to work
The British dentists fearful for their jobs
He tends the teeth of Jewish refugees
off the Finchley Road
In 2020
Mohammed jumps off a lorry
and claims asylum from persecution
When his asylum claim is finally refused
he is detained in Harmondsworth
his small room reminiscent of the cell
where he was tortured in his country
As the coronavirus spreads throughout the world
Mohammed is released
hosted by Solomon’s granddaughter, Ruth
The kindness of strangers
A doctor,
but not allowed to work
due to the pull factor this might create
Mohammed diagnoses symptoms in Ruth’s family
keeping them safe
during lockdown
Debora Singer
