The NHS, a love story

My granny was convinced her Doctor
wanted her for her body-
like Burke and Hare, my Mum said-
but I think it was the way he
held her hand and spoke


It's attention that we need,
and the calling of the living
not just 'patient' or as 'Mrs'
but her name, or even better, this,
which I remember 25 years gone,


a quick kind lie -
You're no more going to die than I am -
And, how many Summers since she was called,
(when her hair was yellow as daffodils),
Lily, or a mere slip of a girl ?

Poem contributed by Sarah Davies.

Photo by isaac sloman on Unsplash