Food for the soul from Alexander McCall Smith
“A small amount of help makes a few yards of an otherwise awfully long mile.”
Alexander McCall Smith, author and poet
Alexander McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE is a professor of medicine, a prolific writer – and a long-time friend of 500 miles.
Known best for his heart-warming novels, Sandy has just published his first volume of poetry called In a Time of Distance – https://www.alexandermccallsmith.co.uk/?s=in+a+time+of+distance – and his contribution to our recipes and tips for the BIG dinner 2 is a poem about 500 miles. You might say “food for the soul”!
A poem for 500 Miles
There are some things, some instances
Of particular suffering about which
There is little that can be done:
The pain of the world will never
Entirely disappear, fervently though
We may hope for that to happen;
And then there are those situations
Where a little can do a great deal
To transform an individual life:
The gift of mobility is something
We can accomplish rather easily:
A small amount of help makes a few yards
Of an otherwise awfully long mile:
What greater gift to anyone can there be
Than a limb? What greater joy
Can a few well-aimed pounds
Bring about? Look at the faces
Of those they’ve helped – there’s your answer.
