Driving to aid my daughter, the lovely Isla Ness,
Her freezer was on meltdown – the food was in distress,

At a traffic ‘pinch-point’ caused by some stupid ballyhoo,
My love clipped a bollard and bang, two starboard tyres blew.

This sent the car into a terrible, washing machine-like spin,
But police-trained several years before, she used her strength within,

And brought the car to a total halt with tremendous resource,
But her head hit the window (driver’s side) with maximum force

She reached for her mobile to call everyone,
To tell what had happened, but life was there none,

Her phone, which just now, had been alive at her side,
Had, since the incident, inexplicably ‘died’.

Knowing I’d be climbing clear up every wall,
If no one involved heard anything from her at all,

She decided to drive home, degree by degree,
So as to try to avoid worrying me.

The tyres made the car really challenging to steer,
Because the power steering had all but disappeared,

And she could only creep slowly at the side of the road,
If she was to safely and soundly, reach our abode.

This process took more than two hours to perform,
By which time the vehicle was smoking a storm.

She collapsed in the house with tremendous relief,
And gave me and her sister* a sort of debrief,

But neglected to mention the blow to her head,
Till an hour later, when she climbed into bed.

Just shortly after, as so often occurs with these things,
She started talking gibberish, of cabbages and kings.

Alarmed, I reached for the phone and quickly rang 999,
And explained the scenario to the girl on the line.

The medics arrived and tried to downplay,
But they, like myself, didn’t think her okay.

They took her to ‘King’s’ ** to assess what was wrong,
They pronounced it concussion, which I’d feared all along.

So now she’s on bed rest and peace and real calm,
To ensure that my darling doesn’t come to more harm.

* I was talking to her sister, Emma at the time because we were both so worried
** King’s College Hospital (one of the big teaching hospitals in London)