Our lives are made up of memories and shared moments in time, one of the most moving was recently brought back to me when I found a poem that my daughter had written in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami when she was just 12 years old.

Her poem shows how such events are observed through a child’s eyes, providing a purity of insight and emotion that as adults often evades us.

As The Wave Came.

The sounds of running, screaming and shouting,

As the wave came.

Bringing with it people and houses,

As the wave came.

I turn; look back before I flee,

As the wave came.

I know no matter how fast I run,

I will be swept away.

Where are my family, my friends, my people?

I look up and pray to God.

I plea; Oh why did this tragedy happen?

As the wave came.

Then the water, close behind me,

Swallows up my feet.

There is no more time to think or flee,

Before the wave would swallow me.

Though death was on the horizon,

My eyes stayed firmly closed.

To hold on to light and precious life,

As the wave came.

Suspended cold and shivering,

Someone grabbed my hand.

Would this be my saviour,

Who would pull me to dry land?

As I broke the surface,

The water speeding past.

I lay, coughing and spluttering,

Before it all went black -

When I awoke, I was alone,

My rescuer was gone.

But there were people all around me,

To keep me safe and warm.