The Alice Roberts Poem:

The Alice Roberts Poem: This poem is inspired by someone who- in my humble opinion- is one of the best things to happen to science and learning for a long time.

The Alice Roberts Poem,

By Marty Drury,

Have you seen the woman who knows her bones?

The one who digs round rocks and stones,

Red hair glistening in the light,

Entertainment and enlightenment on a weeknight,

Hard to say which I enjoy the most,

But at a push I’d opt for “Coast”,

And yet “The Human Journey” told a fascinating tale,

A celluloid hike up the ancestral trail,

The appliance of science is her passion,

And yet without really following the latest fashion,

The Daily Mail dubbed her: “easy on the eye,”

An endorsement that might make others cry,

But she just shrugged her shoulders,

And carried on digging around boulders,

 

As long as I live, a moment I shall treasure,

When I interviewed her and she gave me the measure,

Of her musical taste,

An opportunity I did not waste,

Something to editors I could show,

An enhancement of my portfolio,

Watching her shows taught me more,

Than I’d learned in biology before,

Definitely not a boffin,

Just banging nails into ignorance’s coffin,

She bridges the learning gap,

And provides everyone with a map,

To a suggested potential,

Less a guide, more a stencil,

They call her Doctor Roberts when she’s on the staff,

Roll up and witness the return of the polymath.

 

Perched on the threshold of national treasure,

An anatomist at work, an artist at leisure,

In her words, nothing sounds complicated,

Yet you can clearly see that she is dedicated,

To the founding principles of education,

Not the pomp and circumstance of a televised occasion,

An inspiration, a doctor, a work of art,

The ignition an idea needs to start,

A Columbus spirit of discovery,

And an interest in our intellectual recovery,

Digging next to spire or steeple,

A hungry interest in the development of people,

An emissary of the rational,

Whose appeal is international,

 

She inspires the girls and leaves the boys gasping,

But at the very least they all are grasping,

The importance of science in the modern day,

Learning through fun, enlightenment through play,

Dawkins claims a lot of us are deluded,

But I think that I have concluded,

That we should pay more attention to Dr Roberts here,

And from conflict and rigid thinking we should steer,

Focusing not on the stormy weather,

But on what can bring us all together,

A shared yearning to understand,

How to make this place a better land,