Ballad of Birmingham by Dudley Randall

This is a poem that encapsulates one of the painful ironies of life. Reading it filled me with a sense of sadness, and I remembered all the stories I heard about people involved in bombings, accidents, fires and the like. Afterwards, there would always be stories about the last time the person saw his/her family or friends, last glances and last words. It is ironic how sometimes, the things we try to run from find us in the places we think we are safest. An interesting touch also, is the seemingly casual and storytelling tone of the poem while retelling a tragic and devastating event.