Immigration has been a divisive topic in several elections around the world of late. The topic is often used to stir up hate and make scapegoats of people who have fled war, persecution, famine, or extreme poverty in their home countries. As Warsan Shire puts it in her poem Home (check out our lesson featuring this poem), “No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark”. When countries open their borders to welcome refugees whose homes are no longer safe, isn’t this the very definition of Sharing the Planet?

The text that forms the basis of this page is a poem by British poet Brian Bilston, once described as “Twitter’s Banksy of poetry” due to his enigmatic nature. It’s simply called Refugees and serves as an excellent example of reverso poetry—a form in which the poem takes on a different meaning when read forwards and backwards, achieved through careful wordplay and the use of pivot phrases.

You might want to read the original here first to avoid spoiling the surprise!

At first glance, you might mistake Mr. Bilston for a far-right xenophobe with no sympathy for those seeking refuge. However, the message changes dramatically when read in reverse, the tone shifting from hostile to welcoming.

To emphasise the effect of this technique, the text and accompanying tasks below are split into two handouts.

How to use the text

Begin by presenting images that illustrate the conditions refugees endure. This source, though from 2015, provides a clear portrayal of their plight. Then show photos of anti-immigration protests, such as those that turned to riots in the UK in the summer of 2024.

Ask students to brainstorm adjectives to describe:

1. The conditions the refugees are in
2. How they must be feeling in the circumstances

Next, get them to think of adjectives to describe:

1. The scenes from the riots
2. The feelings of the rioters

Tell students they are going to read a poem about refugees, but don’t reveal the poem’s true meaning.

Give them the handout Refugees 1 and have them read the poem. Get them to write a 7-word summary of the attitude towards refugees expressed in the poem.

Next, move on to the vocabulary task. This will help students to gain a more nuanced understanding of the animosity shown towards refugees.

Once these tricky vocabulary terms are understood, move on to task 2 – sectioning. This helps students break down the different parts of the poem and practise a skill that is tested on the Paper 2 reading exam with questions that require headings to be matched to sections. This could be done individually, but I like to encourage discussion for tasks like this as I get to hear students’ logic and correct any misunderstandings.

Before students get too disillusioned with Bilston’s anti-immigration rhetoric and flock to his website or social media accounts to harangue him, ask them if they think this is really the poet’s view. Could this poem “be looked at another way”?

Hand out Refugees 2 and have students look at the additional line at the bottom of the page - (now read from bottom to top).

You could ask the class to read it out loud, with each student taking turns reading a line.

Next, move on to the next task, sectioning in reverse. This time, the line numbers have been given, but the students need to think of (or look up if they lack the precise vocabulary) suitable titles for each section. They could use antonyms of the words used in the first sectioning task or create short subheadings that capture the essence of the section.

The next step is to have students explore the meaning behind the poem and record their thoughts. For more proficient classes, you could just lead a discussion of these questions. For others, give them time to write down their ideas before sharing, first in pairs, then as a class. This is good scaffolding for responding to questions in depth during the Individual Oral parts 2 and 3.

Going Further

This issue presents an opportunity for students to produce a written text in response. The prompt below could be used to encourage students to express their views and also recycle some of the language learned in this lesson.