YOU CALLED ………..AND WE CAME.

You called…and we came.
In ships bigger than anything we had seen,
dwarfing our islands and covering them
in the shadows of smoke and noise.
Crowded, excited voices filled the air,
traveling to the ‘motherland’

Driven by a wish, a call to save, to rebuild
and support efforts to establish ‘health for all’
in the aftermath of war.

You called….and we came.

Women and men of position in our homelands;
nurses with a pride in the excellence of our care.
With experience of management, organisation
and a sense of duty.

We appeared.
Smiling and eager to work on the wards, communities and clinics
of this England.

You called….and we came.

Our big hearts, skilful hands and quick minds
encased in our skins – of a darker hue.
Which had shimmered and glowed
in our sunnier climes..
But now signified our difference
– our un-belonging.

Matrons became assistants
Nurses became like chambermaids.
All the while striving to fulfil our promise
– to succour, to serve, to care.

You called….and we came.
The blue of the sister’s uniform
– seemed as far away from us as the moon.
Unreachable by our dark hands in this cold land.
But we were made of sterner stuff.
The hot sun, which once beat down on our ancestors,
when they too left their lands,
Shone within us.
Forging our hearts and minds
with the resistance of Ebony.

You called….and we came.

Rising like the Phoenix ,
from the heat of rejection.
We cared, we worked and we organised.
Until the quickness of our brains
and the excellence of our care
made it hard for you to contain us.

And slowly, so slowly,

the blue uniforms had dark and lighter bodies beneath them.

The professional care in our touch

was valued despite the strangeness of our speech

and the kinks in our hair.
You called….and we came.

Recognising the richness of our kaleidoscope nation.

Where compassion, courage and diversity
Remember… you called
YOU. Called.
Remember, it was us, who came.

“You called…and we came”

On the 77th anniversary of Windrush we remember the contribution and courage of a generation that helped to rebuild Britain.