Hoping Against Hope Poem by Mark Heathcote

We're accustomed to seeing crustaceans
crabs and lifeless jellyfish along these shores
starfish, excite our alliterations
but any man bereft fleeing bloody wars.

Scooping up a dead child or two, a wife
yes, images of this kind haunt our psyche
thinking of it makes us re-evaluate life
every night, let's be thankful to God Almighty.

It wasn't our child on that shoreline washed
hoping for a place to find a sanctuary
in a small rowboat hoping, against hope (lost)
prayers might be answered just temporarily.