Streets Apart Poem by Mark Heathcote

Our local lollipop lady at 73
What an icon is she?
Risking pneumonia for you and me
Chancing life and limb in snow
Waving her enchanted yellow wand
Dividing the constant flow
So children can go safely to school
Trying not to end up crushed
Like some brushed aside traffic cone
Our local lollipop lady
She's got a welcoming smile and wave
That warms the cockles of your heart
But that other one downs the road
She's like a paratrooper
Leaping off the curb
With her 'Tommy Gun' taking no prisoners
Rat a tat tat, rat a tat tat, take that…
Come on you kids, move it…
"You boy" stop dawdling
You're holding up proceedings
And I'm freezing; hurry up boy,
The first school bell is ringing…
There's no comparison between these two
They are night and day, streets apart.