It is not for us to remain untouched

This poem is about our response to the migrant crisis, as the imagery suggests. It is equally about our response to each other, and to the broken, lost or fallen people closer to home.  Sometimes scarily close to home.

Do not let this tide that is crashing to shore leave you  untouched.

It is not for them to face alone,

Not for them to work it out;

Face the consequences and make the problem go away.

Not for me to stand upon the cliff and watch with fear and sorrow

as boats are shattered on the rocks.

Not for me to remain safe.

There is a call to be the lighthouse guiding the path in the night,

To be the rescuers, up to our necks in the freezing waters

helping folk in.

And, yes, a call to be the boat that is dashed on the shore,

Broken and helpless and lost in the face of the storm.

It is not for us to remain untouched.