A R T S
POETRY
written by Martin Stepek
Candle in the Barbed Wire
(for Amnesty International, inspired by the voice of Kate Bush on Peter Gabriel’s Don’t Give Up)
In the pitch black
Amidst failure
A bleak desert
My own state of mind
When no-one wants you…
Don’t give up
For there is a flame
In the barbed wire
Though I thought this
Only happened to others
The night came and I drowned
In a swirling sea of pain
When no-one wants you…
Don’t give up
For there is light
In the barbed wire
Trying to settle
I remember my lovely children
Cannot reach and touch them
In this wall of walls
When no-one wants you…
Don’t give up
For there is a candle
In the barbed wire.
When Janina fell
For the first time
Ill and weak
Mother Mary please
When no-one wants you…
Don’t give up
For there is hope
In the barbed wire
When my father held
His head in his bleeding hands
His younger sisters with him
In this gnawing gulag
When no-one wants you…
Don’t give up
For there is a precious candle
That shines like God in this barbed wire.