The Last Message, by Guy Fletcher

Like animals they were crammed 
into a lorry which criss-crossed 
the continent. They paid vast sums 
to human traffickers who are surely damned. 
the image of a young woman plays in my mind: 
pretty, Vietnamese with red lipstick 
bringing the real horror to my soul, 
she left her dear ones behind 

her last message causing tears in my eyes 
saying she was dying and stating her love 
to her family thousands of miles away, 
I can't imagine the awful cries. 
the door was opened but far too late, 
39 sufficated bodies met the gaze 
of those who witnessed the sickening scene, 
nobody should ever suffer such a fate. 

they were trapped inside a mobile tomb 
and although the world mourns now 
you can be certain it will soon forget 
as we hear other tales of doom. 
but the the woman's last message haunts me, 
she was told our streets were paved with gold 
yet only sightless eyes stared 
in a lorry full of corpses...crossing the sea.