Poem: Lullaby for a War-Child

London, 1945

Darling, slumber,
As the night falls amid the shells.
The sky, bright and glowing,
Burns away the blue of day.

Darling, behold,
The scenes you have encountered,
Of bloodstained stones, dead bodies thrown,
And debris of blown-out houses,
Yet the snipers snipe away.

What do you see,
Looking at the world,
With eyes that know no other?

All that you hear,
Are the planes overhead,
A torment; you'll never forget.

Do the clamour of the guns,
Twist your dreams to darkness?
The bombs that drop, that never stop,
Pierce through your soft subconscious.
Reminiscent of the day.

Darling, mercy,
Will surround, can still be found,
Within the corners of our souls,
And of those who do assault us.
Compassion must remain.

by Sylvia Villa (2017)