This Sunday at 6:30pm Ely Cathedral will be holding a special service of thanksgiving for carers, to remember and give thanks for the largely hidden ministry of people who look after their friends or family with chronic needs; those who’s husbands, wives or parents suffer from dementia, those whose children have special needs, the many people whose lives are completely shaped and governed by the needs of another. Those who were planning this service wrote and asked me if I would write a poem for the occasion. I was honoured to do so and I will be reading the poem in Ely tomorrow. Meanwhile I am posting it here, in the hope it may reach and encourage some of the people whose loving sacrifice it celebrates.
As usual you can hear me read the poem by clicking on the title or the ‘play’ button.
A Sonnet For The Unseen
So much goes unseen and stays unsaid,
So much that carers keep within their hearts;
The children who get parents out of bed,
Already tired before their school day starts,
The neighbours who keep giving up their time,
To add a daily round of extra care,
Veronicas who cleanse the sweat and grime,
And those whose gift is simply being there,
The patient partners lifting up a cross
To bear the burden their belovèd bears,
Who ease each other through the pain and loss
And feel that no one sees, and no one cares.
But there is One to hear, to feel, to see
And He will say ‘ye did it unto me’.
Malcolm Guite 