To mark refugee week....this piece is inspired by the words of a member of staff at Liverpool Immigration Offices. The staff there hear heartbreaking stories daily and have no work based access to support or counseling....

Tonight I will go home and cry

I sat straight faced and listened
As the torrent of terror
Tumbled from your throat
And wondered 
How do you ever smile?
And how do your bird like eyes glisten?
Your smile is radiant.
I heard your story
And tonight
I will go home and cry.
I am not young or naive
Nor am I impressionable
But your story
Has shaken my humanity
To the core.
The vile truths spilled out of your memory
Via your mouth

Onto my pages.
Until my ears and my mind
Can take no more.
So tonight
I will go home and cry.