TE20 Migrant Mosaics

Grace Nichols

Kittitian Girl ( for Zelma)

Your depatures stir a longing for your comeback arrivals – you who left your island home to follow your heart’s nursing vocation on England’s distant shore. But you needed no lamp like Florence Nightingale to see your way to heal. No Crimea like Mary Seacole as you scalded duty’s rungs with a smile to console the snow. Kittitian girl, we marvel at the ease with which you juggle the love of your two homes – bearing generous witness. Loyal to both sides of Atlantic.

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