Before I Knew

Before I knew what war was, it was already shaping my life.

Before I knew what fear was, my mother was living inside it every single night.

Before I knew what sacrifice meant, my father was already deep in the middle of making it.

Before I knew what home meant, mine had already been left behind, for safety's sake.

Before I ever learned the names Swan Hunter, Vickers-Armstrongs, Redheads, or the River Tyne, they had already written themselves into my story, without asking my permission.

I was born into a Britain at war.

I simply did not know it yet, but its effects were to be life changing