Lines Across a Land

A line was drawn upon a map,
With ink that looked so thin.
But rivers of tears would follow it,
And wounds would live within.

Neighbors once who shared their bread,
Their markets, songs, and prayer,
Found borders standing in their fields,
And soldiers everywhere.

The trains that carried traders once,
Carried silence, grief, and fear;
For homes were lost to hurried lines
That maps could not make clear.

Communities broke like fragile glass,
Trust scattered on the ground;
Where laughter filled the streets before,
Only echoes could be found.

Coins and crops were split apart,
Old markets torn in two;
What once was strength in unity
Became loss people knew.

A nation’s heart is more than land,
It’s people side by side;
And lines that divide humanity
Leave deeper lines inside.

So history softly asks us still,
When power draws the pen:
Is any border worth the cost
Of breaking hearts of men?