Helen Dawson

Ponteland, United Kingdom

Literature has been an integral part of my life from an early age.  A large portion of my adult life has been spent endeavouring to inspire literary creativity and appreciation in the young.  In 2013 I organised and ran an international children’s poetry competition on behalf of Fowey Festival of Arts and Literature. 

In 2014 a play I had written was chosen to be recorded and aired on Radio St Austell Bay.  In 2019 I became a member of the Northumberland Writers Group and am enjoying the challenge and support which this has provided.  

Poem written 12th May 2020

Hope

We stayed home, baked loaves – man could live on bread, alone,

celebrity’s bubble burst – nurse, doctor, carer, our new heroes.

We put aside the vehicles, got on our bikes, walked alone,

empty roads meant less pollution, wild goats roamed into town.

Unfazed by au revoir and goodbye, we praised the world of wifi,

loved our neighbour at a distance, clapped and sang ‘We’ll meet again’.

We locked down the old folk, shielded out of sight, out of mind.

When ‘do as I say’ was not ‘do as I do’,

we sought wisdom from the folly of others,

found the best of men to be men at best.

Home is where the heart is, yet some hearts were broken,

where familiarity breeds contempt, cabin fever goes on the rampage.

We lamented the fallen, learned that no news is good news,

virus the greatest leveller, patience not a plaster for all souls.

Adversity can make a man wise, but what we wanted was to survive.

Spring came and our fancies turned lightly to love, life, those things we had lost.

Small concessions do not a summer make, but slow and steady wins the race,

so we learned to creep before trying to leap.

Temptation is found in hope and fear, we began to fear less, hope more.

He who has health, has hope and he who has hope has everything.