Never A Statistic

Never A Statistic

A Poem by Chris Shaw
"

In loving memory of Stuart Beattie Cullen, my brotherin-law husband to Wendy, father to Jamie and Iain 22.11.53 - 17.1.2021

"
no more winters
no more summers
no trumpet fanfare
nor mourning drummers
.
stand pay attention
to each nation's numbers
those who have succumbed
those who are encumbered
.
another notch on a bully belt
nicked by a fat covid snatcher
.
we are rocked
though we don't roll
we are empty of heart and soul
we are numbed by the speed
by sheer greed of a callous taker
a shaker of spirits
.
whose parched thirst is unslaked
whose belly remains unfilled
who cares not of lives taken
nor of tears in sadness spilled
.
our loved one is yesterday
where memories live
grief is for today
grief is lost tomorrows
.
while pain
a price paid for loving
leaves a deluge of rain
.
splattered drop sorrows
on stain red cheeks
from hollow eyes

© 2021 Chris Shaw


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Featured Review

since there is no logical parallel to what the world is experiencing, we have to turn to the poets to try and make sense of this. All of this. God commands this shelter from pain perhaps; this metaphoric proposition that not only occupies our grief but rolls back the stone of uncertainty if the angels are too busy.....dana

Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Chris Shaw

3 Years Ago

Thank you Dana for sharing your thoughts. A welcome visit from you. All the best.

Chr.. read more



Reviews



Covid's got a hell of an awful lot to answer for .. and sadly, it aint over, is it .. Never a Statistic within the context outlined in your authors note is not only a fitting title and sentiment .. but it ought to be a warning that things can develop from nothing and swiftly get out of hand .. there is never a time for complacency and bloody hell, where has that time gone .. A necessary and poignant reminder that life is a lottery and Covid amongst many other opportunistic and predatory virus's for example are never that far away .. Neville


Posted 5 Months Ago


Chris Shaw

5 Months Ago

Thank you Neville. So many family’s took losses. My sis had to deal with Stuart first and our mum .. read more
Neville

5 Months Ago


...................................... 💜
Wow, Chris, so sorrowful, and yet the line “we are rocked though we don’t roll” brings in a little spot of resilience. I’m sorry to hear about your brother-in-law.

Posted 10 Months Ago


Chris Shaw

5 Months Ago

Belated thank yous dear Norma. Hope you are ok.

Chris
This poem is "moving". Loss is real - Pain is real. What one does about it is up to oneself.

"we are numbed by the speed
by sheer greed of a callous taker"

This lines speaks loads and volumes.

Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Chris Shaw

3 Years Ago

Thank you Diamond. Written when my brother in law died in hospital from covid. Known him since I was.. read more
Diamond

3 Years Ago

I understand. Staying "united" is key to all healing and strength. Much Love, light and healing your.. read more
What a journey this poem took me on. It nearly had a rap song vibe, like an artist making a commentary on the drama with statistics / death / Covid. I like the anthem-like title, which shows empathy with those we lost due to Covid, but for us, who are still alive, we don't have to succumb (emotionally) to the fear that statistics cause. We are more than a number. We don't have to submit to the stereotypical power of what a number seems to suggest.....powerful writing!

Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Chris Shaw

3 Years Ago

Many thanks for your visit and your thoughts. Always good to hear.

Chris
since there is no logical parallel to what the world is experiencing, we have to turn to the poets to try and make sense of this. All of this. God commands this shelter from pain perhaps; this metaphoric proposition that not only occupies our grief but rolls back the stone of uncertainty if the angels are too busy.....dana

Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Chris Shaw

3 Years Ago

Thank you Dana for sharing your thoughts. A welcome visit from you. All the best.

Chr.. read more
This is heartfelt and heartachingly beautiful. Such perfectly penned lines that will sound familiar to anyone who is grieving... "grief is lost tomorrow's"

I was drawn to the title due to my job as an analyst.

I'm not a statistician .. my mind works better with patterns and words than it does with numbers. Since March I've been working on the Covid response for a local authority in an area with high cases. Never a statistic though, never just a number .. not a day goes by when my team don't mention the personal cost .. brought home now and then by tragic pictures of frontline colleagues who have died. Never a statistic, always a loved one.

Thank you for sharing and writing such engaging and important poetry Christine .

Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Chris Shaw

3 Years Ago

I am really touched by this lovely review Helen. Thank you so much.

Chris
Such a deep write, so much emotion, nicely expressed

Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Chris Shaw

3 Years Ago

Thank you Kim. Your visit and thoughts appreciated. All good wishes.

Chris
Sorry for you and yours loss Chris,
We go through life as marks on a start sheet, an employee, NI number, a tick in a Y/N box and oh so many more too dreary to contemplate, but we are all a thousand things and more to so many we have know...brother in law, partner, parent, child, friend, colleague, assistant, teacher and so much more, yet even in death they still try to wrap us in their red tape and beaurock... Byoorok.... Bloody numbers!
Time of death, date of birth and death separated only by a - on a headstone, that would take a library of books to even scratch the surface of who that person is to even one of those they knew.




Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Chris Shaw

3 Years Ago

Thank you Lorry. Each day we get the drum roll of the numbers of people who have died the day before.. read more
Lorry

3 Years Ago

Every one a story to so many can never be just a start. Uk will become 5th country to pass hundred t.. read more
This is the most raucous powerful poem I've ever seen you write! Wow! I can feel you kinda raging out, in your subdued & slightly understated way. You show your family's private anguish alongside the bigger picture of pandemic slaughter & this amplifies your whole message to a deafening roar. I'm so sorry this damn thing has hit so close to home for all of you (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

Posted 3 Years Ago


First, my heartfelt condolences Chris for the loss of your brother-in-law; such a sad thing and something that so many families are enduring at this time.

It is no real consolation, but there will be summers to come; but it is going to be one hell of a fight before this monster is finally slain. As for the deniers, (and I personally know more than one such idiot,) they are so very wrong both scientifically and morally.

Beccy.

Posted 3 Years Ago


Chris Shaw

3 Years Ago

Thank you for your condolences and your visit Beccy. You know it is the deniers who concern me most... read more

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Added on January 19, 2021
Last Updated on January 19, 2021

Author

Chris Shaw
Chris Shaw

Berkshire, United Kingdom



About
Albert, my paternal grandfather introduced me to Tennyson when I was nine. I have loved poetry ever since but did not attempt writing a single piece until I was 40. It's never too late to try somethin.. more..

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