Many people read self-sacrifice into this poem. There was no self-sacrifice. It was my husband Alistair who made the sacrifice. Al would have liked children. Before he asked me to marry him, he had already accepted my decision to remain child-free.
The nick-name ‘Big Al’ was inspired by a minor character in a gentle series called the ‘Beiderbecke Affair’, which also inspired a life-long love of Jazz.
Music and art will play a key role in enabling us to have the emotional resilience to face up to the true extent of the damage that we have done in recent decades.
Big Al
Big Al loved me, and I loved him,
Love is what makes life worthwhile
That’s what I learnt from him
We never had children
And that was my choice
A decision taken
To give Earth a voice
I knew there was a limit
To what Earth could take
In a world being managed
By folks on the make
If we keep on taking
And forget to give
Then the earth will be barren
And no one will live
My sweetheart is gone now
Reclaimed by the Earth
His love still inspires me
And helps me to smile
And leads me to hope
That in a little while
A new way of thinking
May finally dawn
And there will be a future
For all the unborn