Dear Ukraine

How to talk of dream houses
or building lives,
when bombs are destroying yours?
How to imagine a world for our children,
when refugees crowd station platforms,
clutching cuddly toys, cats, dogs?

How to talk of humanity
When a child travels 750 km alone? –
a number in biro scribbled on his hand, faded.
His home, a childhood, erased;
Fresh-faced young boys left behind,
Dancers, drummers, doctors,
learning how to kill.

Let our children play in sunflowers
beneath a canopy of blue.