I Must Ask the Vicar Where Somalia Is.....

My dream:

Lazily blows the dust across the waste,
Upon the river bank I sit at ease;
The sky is clear the sun is bright and strong,
I stand and stretch and feel the gentle breeze.

I see:

A line of women and girls with empty cans,
Along the river floor they toil and trudge;
No water now, the heat and drought bite hard,
Their depths of death and misery I cannot judge.

Two women, with tiny children, flee the drought,
Children with skulls protruding, so close to death;
They trample and stumble for miles in dust and heat,
The children cry, emaciated, gasping for breath.

A father bowed low, his son forlorn behind,
Stick-like arms protrude below his sleeves;
His face is gaunt; his eyes, they pierce my mind,
Who knows for what ordeals untold he grieves?

In despair they flee the drought and death,
Their village abandoned, their cattle and crops are dead;
The sand still blows, to them no mercy shown,
As on and on their path they wearily tread.

Now in town:

The medical centre is crowded, stifling and hot,
A mother sits - her tears she struggles to hold;
Her eyes are firmly fixed on movements so feeble,
Her tiny starving child her arms enfold.

Her skinny arms, like twigs, now flail the air,
Protruding ribs encase a pounding heart;
With eyes that fixedly stare and piercing cries,
Through my mind and soul sharply dart.
 
But now:

I stretch and yawn and out of bed I roll,
I carefully draw the blinds and look outside;
I see the gardens kept so trim and neat,
And homes so cosy, prosperous – held with pride.

A coffee morning at church today,
Money to give to save the tower;
Creamy cakes and smiles so bright,
A marvellous way to spend an hour.

I must ask vicar where Somalia is…



This poem was written in response to the terrible events taking place in Yemen and parts of East Africa.  In its original form it has photographs of the conditions prevalent in Somalia.  It also draws attention to the huge disparities that exist between those of us who live in the so-called 'western world' and those who live (merely 'exist'?) in increasingly war-torn and drought ridden countries elsewhere.