Amongst the Rubble
from a photograph by Lee Miller
All colour is bleached from the landscape.
Only grey dust, ash falling, dereliction.
The children sit in the rubble, face in hands,
horrified that their homes have gone.
The boy, eldest of the three,
is creased with despair.
It is September, 1940, London has suffered nightly raids.
This was the street they played in
kicking a ball, rolling a hoop.
Their eyes cannot focus on the destruction.
A word they don’t yet understand –
depression – is weaving its way into their being
like the dust covering their boots,
seeping into their clothes.