Carousel
By Richard Devereux
Runner Up, ‘Written Word’ Category
After supper, the old couple went and sat
on their patio with cups of tea.
They heard the door open –
their neighbour popped her head over
the fence and asked how they were.
She’d just come off shift, and showered –
damp hair drawn back and flattened,
her cheeks flushed and red-scored.
The PPE, she explained, she’d been wearing
it all day – it’s one way of shedding the pounds!
But she was a physio, not a nurse?
Yes, but it’s not just sprains and fractures,
you know, physios are in there too,
in ICU, especially now, needed to turn
those on ventilators, every sixteen hours,
from on-their-back to face-down.
Face-down seems to be the way with Covid.
She waves the bottle so they can take
the cue: she’s off to sit on her decking
and soon she’ll be singing – as always, Carousel.
Judge’s Comments (Katherine Lockton)
“A beautiful and honest love poem to the NHS that is funny, heartwarming and authentic all at once. I loved the sense of play at its core. The poem says so much in so few words. The writer captures the bigger issues the NHS key workers face by examining the small details of the everyday life of a couple and their neighbour. The imagery is brilliantly visual. Very well done. Congratulations!”
Written Word ‘Heart’ poems