Ailsa Holland

To the refugees in Europe

We’ve been so much happier
since there was a jungle in Calais,
since there have been corpses
on package-tour beaches.

Our streets are safer, our houses warmer,
our children more beautiful.
We smile with joy as we get into bed.
We have discovered a love for taps.

We would like to say thank you:
give one of you a coat, a hat,
a home; share our garden bench,
our flowers, our trampoline;

make sure your child
has a drum to beat, bells to shake,
a quiet corner to sit in
and paper, coloured pencils

with which to draw
landscapes of beige
men with black guns
babies with red faces.