It was after the workshop Rich & I did for Refugee Week – when everyone wrote poems – that I found I had some words on the go too. So, the following Sunday morning I figured out a piano accompaniment. I recorded a sketch on my Walkman, and that was the title sorted: Refugee – Sunday Morning Sketch.

In the studio

Piano at home

Lou vocals

Listen up my friend, I won’t be coming back
I took a leap of faith to the unknown
I may be safe, I may be not, I leave you everything I’ve got
Except the memories, but that’s ok.

Brothers and sisters, I won’t forget
The earth, the sea, the stars, the sky
And everything that’s in between, the beauty of the swathes of green
The land that made us what we are today.

The village bell that chimed our play
The spice and citrus call for tea
A marble I found in the dust
And kept inside a wooden box
That dog that hung around the yard
With sad black eyes and hopes to run
To distant hills. It’s just too hard
To think about it anymore…

Brothers and sisters, I won’t forget
The earth, the sea, the stars, the sky
And everything that’s in between, the beauty of the swathes of green
The land that made us what we are today.

Hours of practice in the sun
The bow’s weight in my small hand
At eventide, arpeggios
And dreams of times to come
The manuscript, the concert hall
The cellos and the violin
A hand drum in a quiet room
And we begin to play.

Brothers and sisters, I won’t forget
The land that set me on my way
I’ll take it with me, hold it close, and bathe in memories when I dare
It’s ok my old friend, it’s just ok

© 2013 Lou Duffy-Howard