Lifeboat
A Poem for the Great North Passion.
by Kate Fox with input from the Poetry Choir of South Shields Community School
Broadcast on BBC1 on Good Friday 2014
I think I’m kind of kind,
but like most of us I’m somewhere in between,
the serene giving of Mother Theresa
and the bumbling awkwardness of Mr Bean.
Your haircut makes me cringe.
Your phone is so old!
Hashtag
Kindness of Strangers
see Twitter and Galilee
or head to Ocean Road, South Shields
for a day out by the sea!
Fish and chips and curry,
Indian, Chinese and Thai,
anything you want to eat
is here for you to buy.
Icecreams!
Made by Minchellas all the way from Italy.
People came from all over the world to live here
and mostly, they get on.
Thirteen flavours of us.
The first ever lifeboat design,
saved a thousand from the Tyne,
was saved in turn by volunteers,
who wiped away the years
until it was bright blue and white
as the prom on a sunny day.
The seagulls pinch your pasty,
nick your chips,
sit on your head,
a clucking army
pecking bits of bread.
Haway, the Fair!
Dodgems, waltzers, a slide,
a rollercoaster, the party bus,
Life is a journey so come with us,
all the way from the Tyne Bridge.
The Great North Run!
Drummers thump heartbeats in time with the runners
photos of loved ones on their backs.
I had no breath, I’d gone puce,
my knees were weak,
my lungs no use but the crowd gave me
Water!
Jelly babies!
The will to carry on!
Give someone a lift if they break down
(But what if they’re a psychopath?)
Present a random person with a bunch of flowers
(But what if they just laugh?)
Help an old person when they fall over
(But what if you’re not medically trained?)
Burly blokes on boats is just one kind of brave.
but stick your neck out for others
it’s your own life you will save.
Your hair is lush
Let’s give your car a push
You don’t even need make up.
Do you want a hand with that shopping?
You smell of strawberries.
We will be your lifeboat and come to your rescue
\We will bring it back to YOU
so you can’t forget.
Treat others the way you want to be tret.
Treat others the way you want to be tret
