THE CHILD WITH NOWHERE EYES

 

THE CHILD WITH NOWHERE EYES

I see the child with nowhere eyes

I hear the child with no voice

when it cries

I see the child with nowhere eyes

trying to tell the truth

while others believe the lies

I see the child with nowhere eyes

asking where is my family

everyone has one

why not me

what have I done so wrong

I see the child with nowhere eyes

trying so hard to fit in

to be like all the others when his body

just won’t do

what it is is supposed to

I see the child with nowhere eyes

able to do what others find impossible

yet his words are dismissed

as fantasy

or he’s told off for taking things too literally

I hear the child with nowhere eyes

as they turn the key

as they lock him away

as they don’t know what to do with you

crying their lonely tears

with no-one to hold them to love them

to say you’re okay

special in your own way

Now I see the adult still trying to fit in

still the child with the nowhere eyes

I see them clearly

when I look in the mirror

for you might understand

the child with the nowhere eyes

is me

©merimaat Kev.T. Brown 2022

Spring Tides By Fiona Gell, a personal review of a book I loved One of the greatest Manx books of our time

 To be honest I had heard of this book and had seen it in my favourite book shop, the only one that I use. I was asked if I wanted a signed copy, but said no, because I was only really getting it to add to my Manx section and didn't really think it would go beyond that.  Oh, boy wasn't I incorrect in my thinking on that and very, very wrong on that. Hindsight has a wonderful way of tanning your backside for you doesn't it.

I will start with the only negative thing I can say about the book and that is I wish there had been some colour photographs in it as that would have made it more likeable to me and perhaps highlighted things a bit better.  That aside, the book has a nice print size, the paper quality is very good and the pages turn easily which means you never miss a page out and have to go back and find it as I have found myself doing so many times. It might seem a minor thing, but these things can either add or take away from your enjoyment of a book.

To be honest I don't know much about the sea around our little home and don't really give it much thought. Yes I get excited at seeing the dolphins as they pass and the one occasion I saw the fin of a basking shark. The sea around our home mainly means Kippers and Queenies and going up to the fishmongers for other delights. It sometimes means sitting for what seems hours watching the birds on the shore line or loving the waves crashing onto and over the sea wall and the road closures. It also is something we cross over on a ferry to get to the other island.  It is now just something that surrounds us, which could be, because it has always been there all my life.  Yet what Fiona does in the opening parts of this book is take you back to your childhood and the magic of going to the shore and rock pools when you found everything exciting and new.  She does through her own experiences and I love the family and personal stories throughout which weaved with the Manxness , if there is such a word, into the science bits as well so you don't really realise that you are learning as you go along. 

I was left wondering after reading this book, why I had personally never taken much notice of the things described in the book and the fight to get to where we are now and the real danger of just sitting back and doing nothing is not an option for us any more. I thank her for the ways and there are many that she gets us not just to think, but feel differently about what is happening now for if we don't then future generations will never forgive us. 

Thank you Dr Gell for a great, readable book  I think it deserves wider publicity and is perhaps one of the great Manx books ever written, certainly one of the greatest and most important for our time.