1 minute read
Tedd Smith Orr – poetry
Ted Smith-Orr
The Beginning
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The steel blanket casts it’s red shadow, Shrouding the ragged line of bodies, Escaping to a hopeful freedom
Refugees in their own country. Some driving, until the petrol is gone Or engines break down, From the eternal waiting. Waiting for the road to clear.
Others walking: walking on sole-less shoes Carrying only shopping bags Crammed with small but sacred possessions. Soulful hearts leading them forwards.
Babies swaddled in soft linen And parents’ jackets. Some invent games and quizzes To occupy their children And join in the Ukrainian National anthem. The spirit of war cannot defeat Their spirit of humanity.
The imperial rainfall of sickles hammer the ground Destroying deserted buildings and the red steel blanket Follows the hunched shoulders And a sea of woollen hats silhouette Against the ashen red sky.
