There is Love Within Each Act of Kindness
(a poem inspired by The Windermere Children)
Listen to the poem ...
On Windermere’s shore
under trees and by streams,
we learn to be children again.
And slowly at first
unlock feelings and dreams
tightly shackled by anguish and pain.
Feel the breath of the air
on your face as you run;
leave the hatred behind in the darkness.
Seek friendship and joy
as you try to have fun;
there is love within each act of kindness.
Shall we dream of our parents,
our neighbours, our friends,
see reflections in eyes filled with sorrow?
Shall we wait for the bruises
and heartache to mend
when the pain comes again on the morrow?
Feel the breath of the air
on your face as you play;
leave the hunger behind in the darkness.
Seek friendship and joy
on your journey each day;
there is love within each act of kindness.
Shall we fly over lakes
in a boat made with wings,
splash in wellies through clouds under rainbows?
Shall we ride on the wind
with the birds as we sing,
chasing stars in the wake of tornadoes?
Feel the breath of the air
on your face as you fly;
leave the barbed wire behind in the darkness.
Seek friendship and joy
as you understand why
there is love within each act of kindness.
Shall we muster our courage,
be thoughtful and kind
as we sail on our way under blue skies?
Shall we care for each other
and those who we find
feeling sad and alone as the boat flies?
Feel the breath of the air
on your face as you smile;
Leave the prisons behind in the darkness.
Seek friendship and joy
feeling safe all the while;
there is love within each act of kindness.
As the summer grows old
and it’s time to move on
from the flying boats up on the skyline,
we will never forget
when our childhood has gone
how we played in the sweet Lakeland sunshine.
Feel the breath of the air
on your face as you leave;
we will run, laugh and play till we’re done.
From the darkness we came
yet we learned to believe
that tomorrow we’ll sing in the sun
… and that kindness could save everyone.
under trees and by streams,
we learn to be children again.
And slowly at first
unlock feelings and dreams
tightly shackled by anguish and pain.
Feel the breath of the air
on your face as you run;
leave the hatred behind in the darkness.
Seek friendship and joy
as you try to have fun;
there is love within each act of kindness.
Shall we dream of our parents,
our neighbours, our friends,
see reflections in eyes filled with sorrow?
Shall we wait for the bruises
and heartache to mend
when the pain comes again on the morrow?
Feel the breath of the air
on your face as you play;
leave the hunger behind in the darkness.
Seek friendship and joy
on your journey each day;
there is love within each act of kindness.
Shall we fly over lakes
in a boat made with wings,
splash in wellies through clouds under rainbows?
Shall we ride on the wind
with the birds as we sing,
chasing stars in the wake of tornadoes?
Feel the breath of the air
on your face as you fly;
leave the barbed wire behind in the darkness.
Seek friendship and joy
as you understand why
there is love within each act of kindness.
Shall we muster our courage,
be thoughtful and kind
as we sail on our way under blue skies?
Shall we care for each other
and those who we find
feeling sad and alone as the boat flies?
Feel the breath of the air
on your face as you smile;
Leave the prisons behind in the darkness.
Seek friendship and joy
feeling safe all the while;
there is love within each act of kindness.
As the summer grows old
and it’s time to move on
from the flying boats up on the skyline,
we will never forget
when our childhood has gone
how we played in the sweet Lakeland sunshine.
Feel the breath of the air
on your face as you leave;
we will run, laugh and play till we’re done.
From the darkness we came
yet we learned to believe
that tomorrow we’ll sing in the sun
… and that kindness could save everyone.
In 1945, a journey of rescue and rehabilitation began for 300 Jewish refugee children abused by the Nazis during World War Two. The rescue was arranged by Leonard Montefiore, supported by the Central British Fund for Jewish Relief with the children cared for under the direction of child psychologist Dr. Oskar Friedman.
This was the focus of a marvellous film in 2020. The Windermere Children, written by Simon Block, directed by Michael Samuels and featuring amongst others, Iain Glen, Pascal Fischer, Thomas Kretschmann and Romola Garai, chronicled the events in 1945 at Calgarth in Troutbeck Bridge.
Accommodation blocks that had been used to house workers producing the Sunderland Flying Boats became the temporary home for the children who were in desperate need of care. Dr. Friedman’s supportive network offered opportunities for sport, education, outdoor recreation, art therapy and healthcare. From the brutality of Nazi death camps to the tranquillity of the Lake District, the children’s testimonies, which now form part of the Lake District Holocaust Project exhibition in Windermere Library, record how they felt they’d arrived in ‘Paradise’.
This was the focus of a marvellous film in 2020. The Windermere Children, written by Simon Block, directed by Michael Samuels and featuring amongst others, Iain Glen, Pascal Fischer, Thomas Kretschmann and Romola Garai, chronicled the events in 1945 at Calgarth in Troutbeck Bridge.
Accommodation blocks that had been used to house workers producing the Sunderland Flying Boats became the temporary home for the children who were in desperate need of care. Dr. Friedman’s supportive network offered opportunities for sport, education, outdoor recreation, art therapy and healthcare. From the brutality of Nazi death camps to the tranquillity of the Lake District, the children’s testimonies, which now form part of the Lake District Holocaust Project exhibition in Windermere Library, record how they felt they’d arrived in ‘Paradise’.
This poem is copyright (©) Jonathan Humble 2024
About the Writer
Jonathan Humble
Jonathan lives in Cumbria. His work has been published online and in print in a number of magazines and anthologies. His first collection of poetry, My Camel's Name Is Brian, was published by TMB Books in 2015. His second poetry book, Fledge came out in 2020 through Maytree Press. His poems for children have been shortlisted and highly commended in the Caterpillar and Yorkmix poetry competitions and he is the editor of The Dirigible Balloon. His poems Masterclass and This Work is Done were chosen as the Milk House Poem of the Year at the end of 2022 and 2023.
