On 23 April Nina wrote her poem, Unsung Heroes, and commented as follows:

*I felt really emotional writing this. Sometimes, Napowrimo feels like a mental excavation and it gets overwhelming when you try and write as authentically as you can. Is it just me? Anyway, it’s a really rough write that needs editing but like a lot of my writes this month, I’ve posted them as is.

You can see the original post here.

My response is below:

“I think this is an amazing piece of writing Nina which reads perfectly and powerfully. I would like to record it as a Spoken Word if I may, and repost it? I particularly like
“Death too lurks everywhere
as if with a daily quota to tick
but sometimes someone’s soul will say
not today, Death. Not today.”

Nina said OK, so here it is

Unsung Heroes

So many of them
walk among us.

Death too lurks everywhere
as if with a daily quota to tick
but sometimes someone’s soul will say
not today, Death.  Not today.  

The paramedic who does CPR just in time.
The woman who pulls you out of the way of a bus.
The lifeguard who drags you out of the current.
The allies, the valiant, acting on instinct.

Those who can talk you back from the brink
as you stand on a precipice 
not knowing how you got there.

The deep-sea divers in Thailand some years ago
who saved that group of thirteen
and braved the flooded cave,
the valour, the strength, the resolve it took.
I cannot fathom such heroism.

Someone says the odds are slim
but courage says let us try, let us try
we have to, because we must. 

And it’s true
that fortune favours the brave
for something on high steps in and says 
I’ll help you.

The firefighters, the soldiers, the freedom fighters
performing feats of grit and mettle
looking death square in the eye.
They signed up for it 
but how hard it must be
to keep your cool in the face of jeopardy
and know that one false move
means you would perish too.

That is some steel will, right there –
Timing, it’s all about timing, isn’t it?
One second too late and then –

And of course
the good, good parents doing their best
every day, all their days
the single mothers, the lone fathers
guardians, keepers, teachers, carers
cos that’s where it all begins
with those who keep a watchful eye
and do their part
to plant the good, good seeds.

That is all I have to say.

_{© N Nazir 2024}

Here are two rather croaky renditions of Nina’s lovely, powerful words. I prefer the second one but it has a couple of slight reading errors!