The pale day peered through dusty glass
Cajoling the world into action
The pigeons slowly rose en masse
My grey face flickered a fraction
Midday came, the gulls were crying
By four the damp day seeped and sighed
The skies and senses started dying
Still, my spirit blazed clear-eyed
In January to May 2021, I struggled a lot with infections, lethargy, feeling very unwell. Yet still I had the window, the view and the light and the weather. Even at my lowest ebb, I could be part of the world beyond the ward. This poem is inspired by Sara Teasdale’s poem “A December Day”.
September 2023 is Blood Cancer Awareness Month. It is also Child Cancer Awareness Month. Every day 10 children in the UK are diagnosed with cancer. Of those lucky enough to survive, many will have long-term side-effects that may significantly impact their lives forever.
I am posting one poem per day to recognise this and raise money for the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. This charity provides sailing and other outdoor adventures for children and young people aged 8-24 who have been treated for cancer. But it’s more than that. There’s a package of support around this including siblings, return trips, volunteering opportunities and so on. The Trust also works hard to ensure their work is environmentally sustainable. You can make a donation HERE!
Thank goodness for your clear eyed spirit shining through the driech dull days of an Aberdeen winter. Made doubly dull and dour with Covid incarceration. Accompanied by the image and the context this, to me, is a beautifully depressing and uplifting poem.
That time of year, shown in the image, reminds me that even in the darkest of days there’s still a glimmer of hope for spring, but without people on the streets and hospital estate I wonder if that must have been even harder to muster. In contrast, living in the country, when there’s so little light with snow, makes me think of The Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel, some how quite an optimistic painting with so much life in it despite the weather. Your spirit is beautiful, tenacious and remarkable as are you xxx