Carole Bromley

Songs of Praise

A man kneels on the earth floor
and prays to Gabriel for his life.

He is on the very edge of Europe.
Once we camped there

waiting for a ferry and the kids
dug holes with seaside spades

and all night the lighthouse beam
swept our canvas house.

The interviewer asks if it is right
to try to enter a country illegally

and the student priest replies
with courtesy that it is not

but what are we supposed to do?

First published in Morning Star