Imagine the Tawe and Nedd being sucked beyond their lowest ebb, before barreling back in a twenty-foot wave that smashes through the streets and wipes out houses.
Imagine the headlines on Wales Today and in the Western Mail: “thousands dead in Swansea and Port Talbot”. Mass graves in Baglan and on Fabian Way.
Then realise, that although so many were swallowed by the tsunami, many more will die in its aftermath. Queuing for water in Sandfields. Waiting in vain for the food truck in Town Hill. As sewage spews from broken pipes in Briton Ferry.
Imagine all this, then give thanks that it never happened. Here. In Wales.
Then turn your gratitude into cash. Open your heart and your wallet to help those who lost everything in Palu. Dig deep in your pockets. Do it today. Do it now. Tomorrow may be too late.
Thank you for whatever you can give.
Ifor ap Glyn
Bardd Cenedlaethol Cymru | National Poet of Wales
(This is a poem by National Poet of Wales, Ifor ap Glyn in support of DEC Cymru’s Indonesia Tsunami appeal.)