“I am writing this on a Thursday morning – a beautiful, sunny late Spring morning. This evening once again we will all troop outside our homes in our millions across the country to shout and clap, to show our thanks to the NHS.
Here in rural West Cornwall its quite extraordinary, standing on a hill in the dusk with the distant banging of pots and pans, the applause and musical instruments drifting across the parish, along the coast, all competing with the birds and livestock, it is quite beautiful.”
8pm Thursday evening
A thank you to the NHS
A rural chorus
Drums
The saucepan tattoo
Competes with the trill of a wren
And the faint sheep’s bleating calls
And the raucous jackdaws going to roost
In the valley sycamores
The ululations, the old horns
And applause
All drifts across the parish
Over the hedges
And fields
Along the coastal plain
A disparate choir
An orchestra of thanks
Sending their heartfelt praise