Lost Boy
Not long after your picture had been filed
the press began to circulate another.
Your brief appearance as “drowned Syrian child”
was superseded by your little brother.
The media reviewed the human damage
and Don McCullin with his Magnum eye
explained why Aylan’s was the single image
your tragedy will be remembered by.
You were too clearly dead; he seemed asleep.
He was the Twitter “Ooh”, the Facebook “Aww”.
His was the picture that they chose to keep;
an easy icon for a distant war.
Your likeness now is difficult to find.
Not quite so cute, and yet a lot more true,
uncomfortable, best put out of mind.
This poem, Ghalib Kurdi, is for you.
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