Poems for Nightingale Day

Bryony Hart and Mark Richardson mark the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth (which is also International Day of the Nurse).


The Keeper of Fragile Threads



Dedicated to all the nurses and carers who hold their hands and do not let go


The candle light dances 
As you bow your head close
To the dry lips of a man
Who holds on to life
By one fragile thread


It is taut 
And you hear his whispers
Of life before 
Of his girl
His babe 
Warm in his arms 


It vibrates
And memories flood 
His mind
Of times when 
Young
He ran wild through grass
Tripped on tree roots
Slipped from thick branches
Sliced flesh on stone
Hidden beneath the murky depths


The thread is wrapped 
Around your heart
And you lean in
Closer
For him to dip further 


To the time when
Just 17
He held her hand
In the shadows of pews
And prayers 
Binding his soul to hers
Til death do us part 


And when
Standing solemnly 
Outside their chamber
Her violent screams chilled his bones
And he feared that 
The dark hand would 
Take them both
Mother and child


And he feels that dark hand now
Slipping into his calloused hand
Not with the warmth
Of youth or innocence
But with the sadness 
And disappointment
That comes with war
Where man is fixated 
On the annihilation 
Of all things good


Of love
Of innocence
Of faith


Thousands of miles
Away from here
She swaddles her babe
And whispers a tune
That finds its away 
Upon the thread 
And through the 
War destruction waste


To his side
To your voice
As you hear him take
His final few breaths
That are filled with 
Remembrance of
Love innocence faith


Don’t let me go, he pleads
Until I’ve gone
And let her know 
That I remember


You sing the tune
That comes to you
Without warning 
And he sighs his last
With his hand in yours


BCH - 10th May 2020





  oNce
                         It was just a name
               that was Given out in
                     our History books 
                   as parT of our  
                      herItage.
                         Now, everything has
                     chanGed   
                         And it’s
                    rightLy
                      celEbrated again!


MPR - 10th May 2020

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