Here's a new poem that I've written, published here to coincide with #NursesWeek

Sawubona – I See You

One

There is a warmth that is engaging

There is a sparkle in your eye

A dignity in your demeanour

And the way you don’t ask ‘Why?’

With care we skirt the conversations

Of planning, time-scale, pain and fear

And what to tell the family

And how to know when end is near.

No blame do you apportion

No anger-spitting hate

Just a peaceful resignation

And acceptance of your fate.

I see you.

Two

Her face lit up when you arrived

And your smile mirrored back

You thought your Mum remembered you

Her recall back on track.

But you were just a friendly face

That she was pleased to see.

She doesn’t know her daughter,

Can’t relate to family.

It’s hard to be the one that’s left

The one who fills the gaps

Who shares the stories that shed light

On tangled memory maps.

I see you.

Three

Now here, a different pain is raging

This world has proved all too unkind

You cannot find the resolution

That will calm your troubled mind.

Your face is ravaged and distracted

Dark shadows hood tormented eyes

Your loss of hope and lack of cope

Have only served to stigmatise.

You have turned inwards, dimmed the light

Cut at your vital line

‘Time Out! Time Lost! Time All Spent Up!’

Your fifteen minute fame headline.

I see you

Four

At the end of the shift it is I who can leave

And you are the ones who must stay

It is you who must deal with the lots you’ve been given

And I who can walk away

I catch sight of my own reflection

A care-worn giver of care

At one with your strain, I acknowledge again

The feelings that you and I share.

So I pace out your chaos in orderly time

Reflecting and thinking things through

I wrap you in rhythm and soothe you in rhyme

To make sense where no sense is due.

I am here, and I see all of you.