Prince Caspian by Mel Perry

The boy in the Tranås classroom,

who wrote without falter or query,

who moved the strokes of his Persian

voice in silence across the page,

who scribed a story of loss and love,

Afghanistan, his home.

..

Like Caspian, may he rise us up

from that page, rise us up

alongside him with the wisps,

flicks, kisses of his language

meeting ours in this autumn air.

..

May his fingers entwine ours,

grasp our hands, hold our hearts

along the braided rivers of his land,

across all oceans, as together

we encircle the hammering grief

of Ankara, Baghdad, Beirut,

Paris.

..

I am a poet who lives on a Welsh estuary.  My poetry is usually inspired by the natural world and specific built environment. I have borne witness to the poetic history of Poems and Pints at The Queens, Carmarthen. I was the pioneer travelling poet in the first exchange organised by the Wales Ireland Spoken Word and Poetry Alliance (WISPA) in 2014.  I was a member of the International Yeats Literary Residency in Tranås, Sweden,  September 2015.