izzy

Somewhere there is an empty chair and a coffee getting cold and footprints in snow because this life couldn’t wait any longer to happen. Somewhere there is a man holding a crying child’s hand saying ‘breathe sweetie, just breathe’. Somewhere there is a woman climbing a mountain and howling to the glorious valley below. Somewhere there is an ocean licking the feet of the couple that are always holding each other, even though they stand two feet apart. Somewhere there is a boy sewing clothes for his toys. Somewhere there is a girl drawing a crayon forest on her walls. Somewhere there is a man singing in the shower and a woman painting the windowsills yellow. Somewhere there are children giggling in a cupboard because they know hide and seek isn’t about winning it’s about being found. Somewhere two people have just discovered each others’ skin. Somewhere the world has just ended. Somewhere there is a supernova. Somewhere the world has just begun again.

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sarah

tonight, a prayer
for every parent
every lover
every child
every friend
frantically clutching their phones
and their coats
and their hopes
with their hearts lurching
and their lips whitening
wishing with every atom of their being
that the droning banks of televisions
in the airport arrivals terminal
will shudder and flicker
all as one
to a single image
shot from above
of a slew of bobbing lifeboats
full of smiling, grateful people
whose shy waves say
‘sorry about all that
didn’t mean to cause a fuss
we’re all safe
and we’re coming home’

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