I Saw Faces I saw faces That faced the sea Hope pulsing with trembling desire Racked with desperate uncertainty I saw faces That never before touched the ocean Fear pulsing and shivered cold Retching in unstoppable motion I saw faces Lit by saddened moonlight Blood pulsing in quickening veins The boat swamped, sinking in final night I saw faces Immersed into blackened sea Waves pulsing over restless souls Helpless, but now at rest, yet will anyone grieve? I saw faces Reflected in the mirror of an ocean surface Humanity pulsing in tides of ebb and flow How many more faces, how many more waves, laid to waste? ___________________________ The UNHCR announced on 4th August, that so far this year 1,500 refugees have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean. In June and July alone more than 850. Every number was a person. A life. A family. A son. A daughter. A father. A mother. A brother. A sister. A friend. But their end is unmarked. And barely remarked upon. Such an extraordinary and overwhelming loss of humanity has become something not worth mentioning. And easily forgotten. That this continues on an unprecedented scale is an indelible stain on our world.
