In 1941, while in a refugee hostel in Blackpool, she wrote these poems:
DON’T KEEP SMILING
Oh let’s not seek oblivion, distractions,
Let’s not bare our teeth to fight the flow -
Laughing although our strength’s missing in action.
The jolliest lie spreadeagled here below
And the liveliest are dead now,
And the loveliest, like roses, are frozen to the bough.
There was a time for joy. Now it’s time to keep
God’s commandment to weep. Better weep.
THE WALL OF WATER
Ocean, you lie in front of me, a wall of water
Flattened, massive, without limits,
Cold grey granite turned to liquid.
And the heart is imprisoned here. And grief – without borders.