This is a poem called Radiant Care which I wrote after being an in-patients at the Royal Papworth hospital in Cambridge last week.

Father friend
Free Father fair,
Reveal your face
And hear my prayer.

Quickly God,
My survival pod,
I need you here.
It’s cold,
It’s dark,
I’m emotional,
I’m disposable.

I’m emotional with pain
That won’t abate
Bursting my chest
At the slowest gait.

I’m inconsolable.
Where at any point
My senseless, lifeless eyes
And jaw
May faint and crash
Upon the floor.

God,
Give me back my warm cocoon,
The survival pod
In which, in June,
Carelessly and free of duty
Oblivious to disposability
Squandering my capability
I strolled through beauty.

Your pod of survival
No idle dreams
No bullet proof capsule
But coherent teams!

Paramedic teams
A+E teams
Chaplaincy teams.
Nursing teams
Cleaning teams
Feeding teams

And the Cath Lab team
At the Royal Papworth.
A ballon inflating
Stent inserting
Slick
Caring
Team.

Father friend
Free Father fair
I’ve seen your face
It’s radiant care.


Peter Coates 21/01/2024.