My wife is from Belfast, and lime the Scousers, the tradition of feeding and sharing deeply ingrained :-)
Yes, the poems reality, like the war poems, makes me think of
how fortunate I am not to suffer like that, and as an emotive personality, the realism does arouse in me an empathy.
Best wishes to you and for your wife's health.
(You say you wished there was someone/thing to pray to.
You may not believe in God but He believes in you. Try it.)