Poet Paul's bid to help rally the nation

Paul Barnes, Facilities Officer at Dr Kershaw’s Hospice and a part-time poet, has created a special Coronavirus poem to help rally the nation and show support for the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paul, who has been particularly inspired by the bravery of his sister, Jenny Smith, an NHS frontline keyworker, and his fellow colleagues at the Hospice, created the poem to show his love and respect for all the work that they are doing at this difficult time.

He was also keen to touch on the importance of the public staying home to help save lives and protect the National Health Service.

The poem, simply titled 'COVID-19', reflects on the impact that the virus has had on daily life for all; highlighting the unsung heroes that the country has become reliant on.

Paul’s thoughtful poem was made public for the first time last night in support of all the NHS staff and keyworkers at 8pm, as the community once again came out of their homes to show their support.

Oldhamer Paul said: “Working within the Hospice environment I have always had admiration and respect for my colleagues and my sister.

"However, given the current situation I thought it was only right to put into words how much society appreciates all their effort and commitment during this time, while highlighting the importance of people within our community and beyond following Government guidelines so that together we can beat this.”

Paul's poem:

It started out in China

It killed without a care

We all got told to stay at home

But we didn’t and had a mare

We passed it round between us

We sweated, touched and coughed

Infection carried on and on

Even though our hands were washed

Isolated in our homes

We couldn’t go to work

An outside trip was once a day

Driving us berserk

We couldn’t see our family

We couldn’t see our friends

We couldn’t congregate in groups

It drove us round the bend

We’d go to the Supermarket

And stand six feet apart

Better than six feet under

The depth of a shopping cart

But sacrifices had to be made

To help in times of strife

So up stepped a group of heroes

From varied walks of life

It wasn’t the Chief Executives

Or the Multi-Millionaires

It was the normal people in our towns

That showed they really cared

The Doctors and the Nurses

The delivery women and men

The cleaning staff and the shop workers

And even the man in number 10

One things for sure, we’ll come out of this

But our numbers will be less

But let us not forget their souls

And give them each a bless

Let’s pass this on as a ray of hope

Steadfast in our aim

We will not be beatenby this disease

We will not play its game

Come on now team lets stick together

Let us not digress

Stay at home, help saves lives

And protect the NHS.

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