It’s World Refugee Day on June 20. I have included a prompt for this week but, as always, if you have an image you’d like to contribute with your poem, please include it in your email to ozchildrenspoetry@gmail.com. To view the prompt images, scroll to the bottom of THE LIGHT, my contribution for this week.

THE LIGHT by Kerry Gittins

‘Helloooo!’

Words sound strange

in the middle of the ocean.

Our light is finished.

Even the moon hides behind clouds,

as if to say,

‘No-one will find you.’

The shadows shivering quietly

in this leaky, wooden boat

seem to agree.

We are invisible.

We have risked so much

to find a new home,

far from a troubled land.

‘Helloooo!’

Silence.

No stars are brave enough

to break the blackness

of the world that surrounds us.

To and fro. To and fro.

Our bodies rock

to the rhythm of the water.

Lost. Lost. Lost. Lost

The words slap

against the side of our boat.

‘Helloooo!’ I call one last time.

To and fro. To and fro. 

Bodies rock.

Lost. Lost. Lost. Lost. 

Water slaps.

‘Hellooo?’ A small voice in the endless night.

‘Over here! This way!’

We are all shouting

but our voices are gobbled up

by the hungry dark.

We stop and listen.

To and fro. To and fro. 

Bodies rock.

Lost. Lost. Lost. Lost. 

Water slaps.

‘Hellooo?’ the small voice calls again.

I see you! I see your light!

A beam of silver

pierces the clouds.

The moon has changed its mind

and decided to help after all.

A path of stars brightens the inky sea

as you make your way

towards us.

I catch the line of rope.

One journey finished.

Another just beginning.

Both bound by hope.

Images courtesy Al Jazeera https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2017/1/29/mv-aquarius-rescues-refugees-on-mediterranean-sea. Sourced June 19, 2023.