In the Distance

The massive cliff stands gazing out to sea:

Do you see the tiny battleships below?

Caught in the shells, the terror and the pain.

 

When wavelets ripple clear across the sand

Do we see the plastic island floating somewhere;

the species dead; the nations washed away?

 

Our sea-washed island, like a crannog, keeps

us safe from people swept by tides of war,

adrift and longing for the life we have.

 

The tragedy of life is written small

when we are far away and standing tall

Pat Weaver, December 2015

Pat took part in a poetry making workshop for adults led by Chris Bennett as part of the Sharing Shorelines project.