VIDEO: Scotland’s makar Jackie Kay pens poem especially for essential workers

Scotland’s makar and The Sunday Post contributor Jackie Kay paid a heartwarming tribute to the country’s essential workers by penning a new poem called, simply, ‘Essential’.

Jackie wrote the piece to give a “huge, big, thank you” to all the key staff working tirelessly during the coronavirus pandemic.

She said this is not solely the people on the NHS frontlines but the childcare workers, postmen, delivery workers, and supermarket workers.

Words are essential in times like these, and so are essential workers – Scotland’s Makar, Jackie Kay

In a video posted to the Scottish Government’s Twitter, she said: “In these harrowing times, it’s been really heartening to see how much people have actually come together, how much kindness there’s been out there and how dependent we are on all essential workers.

“Not just people in the NHS and carers who have done an amazing, amazing job, but also the childcare workers, the postmen and women, the delivery workers, the people in the food supply chain, the people stacking the supermarket shelves.

“We’ve become as a society and as a world even more aware and even more appreciative of every single thing that people do and the effort they’re making to keep us fed and to keep us safe.

“So I wrote this poem as a huge, big thank you to everybody out there, even the people who are staying at home to keep us safe, the people on the homefront and the people on the frontline.

“This poem’s called Essential, and words are essential in times like these and so are essential workers. I was thinking about all these things when I wrote this poem.”

Watch it here:

Scotland’s Makar @JackieKayPoet has written a new poem as a “huge, big, thank you” to essential workers during the #coronavirus outbreak. #WeThankYou

Watch ‘Essential’ here ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/MMkBbkCIOs

— Scottish Government (@scotgov) April 16, 2020