A baby boy washed up upon the shore
In Norway
Well north of England’s coast
A family all drowned
When Channel waters
Upturned those migrants
From a crowded boat
My people came to England
Over water
From Dublin Port
To Holyhead they came
My grandfather my mother
Leaving Ireland
Seeking life and work
Just the same
If England conquered Ireland
With armies
Ireland returned the compliment
Invading Navvies flooded
Every corner
With roads and houses
MacAlpine’s cement
Still a magnet
A land for immigration
But illegal passage
Often ends in death
That little boy
Who knew so little life
Was robbed of it
When waters took his breath
Brian Fahy
8 June 2021
Erris Poetry 