We waited hours for the torch to pass;

Helicopters hovered,

BMW bikes rolled platoons of police (all high fiving)

Past our aching feet

And flagging flags.

Spirits slowly sank,

Euphoria evaporating under the scouring sun.

 

Then the Murmur approached.

Life returned to our lifeless limbs

As acrobats cartwheeled along the white-lined tarmac;

A whole caravanserie upgraded from pachyderms to pantechnicons

With technicoloured logos and technocoloured sound systems.

 

There it was!

NO!

There HE was!

 Ben Parkinson, soldier hero

Face beaming

sinews screaming as he stepped,

Pace by pace,

Painstakingly, into view.

Torch held high,

Pride even higher.

And my heart cried.

 

Yvonne Brunton

June 2012

Ben Parkinson of Doncaster took nearly 25 minutes to walk his 300 metres of the torch relay despite doctors having said he would never walk again after his war injuries.

A heartbreaking inspiration!