Paul Barnes releases poem to rally the nation during COVID-19.
Paul Barnes, Facilities Officer at Dr Kershaw’s Hospice and part-time poet has created a special Coronavirus poem to help rally the nation and show support for the NHS during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Paul, who has been particularly inspired by the bravery of his sister, Jenny Smith, an NHS frontline keyworker and his fellow colleagues at the Hospice, created the poem to show his love and respect for all the work that they are doing at this difficult time whilst touching on the importance of the public staying home to help save lives and protect the National Health Service.
The poem, simply titled, COVID-19, reflects on the impact that the virus has had on daily life for all; highlighting the unsung heroes that the country has become reliant on.
Paul’s thoughtful poem will be made public for the first time on Thursday night via the Dr Kershaw’s Hospice’s social media pages in support of all the NHS staff and keyworkers at 8pm, as the community once again is invited to come out of their homes to show their support.
Paul, from Oldham states “Working within the Hospice environment I have always had admiration and respect for my colleagues and my sister. However, given the current situation I thought it was only right to put into words how much society appreciates all their effort and commitment during this time, whilst highlighting the importance of people within our community and beyond following Government guidelines so that together we can beat this.”
COVID-19
It started out in China
It killed without a care
We all got told to stay at home,
But we didn’t and had a mare.
We passed it round between us
We sweated, touched and coughed
Infection carried on and on
Even though our hands were washed.
Isolated in our homes,
We couldn’t go to work,
An outside trip was once a day
Driving us beserk.
We couldn’t see our family
We couldn’t see our friends
We couldn’t congregate in groups
It drove us round the bend.
We’d go to the Supermarket
And stand six feet apart
Better than six feet under
The depth of a shopping cart
But sacrifices had to be made
To help in times of strife
So up stepped a group of heroes
From varied walks of life
It wasn’t the Chief Executives
Or the Multi-Millionaires
It was the normal people in our towns
That showed they really cared
The Doctors and the Nurses
The delivery women and men
The cleaning staff and the shop workers
And even the man in number 10
One things for sure, we’ll come out of this,
But our numbers will be less
But let us not forget their souls
And give them each a bless.
Let’s pass this on as a ray of hope
Steadfast in our aim
We will not be beaten by this disease
We will not play its game.
Come on now team lets stick together
Let us not digress
Stay at home, help saves lives
And protect the NHS.
Paul Barnes
3rd April 2020
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Author: Jude Gidney - Editor
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