EXODUS

With each blast, the heart stops.

What tomorrow is left?

The urgency is to evacuate,

To leave behind

The baby's rattle, the kettle on the hob,

Burnt toast on the table.

But what future can be salvaged

From burning embers,

Rubble on the street,

Love letters strewn down the lanes?

The men are strong, the women caring,

Boys and girls the promise of a new day.

But today all is lost.

Empty boats bobbing on the sea

In the wake of a watery grave.

And then we see it, shocked into action,

A Syrian pearl cast to the shore.

But, saddest of all things,

It is the footprint of a child

That shadows the deathly hallows.