For Aylan - The Boy on the Beach

Written in 2016, following the story of Aylan, the little boy who drowned whilst fleeing from war in Syria. He was in a boat full of refugees which capsized and sank.

The boy on the beach will never go home.Forever he sleeps face down in the foamHis little-boy legs will never grow longer,His baby milk teeth will never grow stronger.A toddler whose days on this earth were so raw,Who never felt freedom from war’s rabid claws.Wave after wave of other boys sleeping,Wash up on the beach as night time comes creepingA flotilla of haste, of little boys chasedAcross fiery lands now lying in wasteWhile trying so hard with their mother to tether,Make landfall in this place - to sleep on, forever.

The boy in the boat squeezed in so tightWith one hundred others, sailed into the nightGripping the hands of his sister, his mother,Who’s praying that Death will not take another.She’s given a brother, a husband, such loved ones,Don’t take her children, her daughter, her sons.But Death is greedy, she wants a big catch,And this leaky boat against Death is no match.She tips the boat over, the better to reachThe most precious morsels washed up on the beach.Death reaps a harvest of tender young fleshAnd after feasting, departs refreshed.__________________________________________© Sadiechild March 2016