


‘I wanted to harness the feeling I had of being rescued’
Episode 56 - Float to Live: Eleanor Hooker
Poet and Lough Derg Lifeboat Helm Eleanor Hooker reads her 200th anniversary poem, and reveals the inspiration behind it.
When Eleanor Hooker was invited to write a poem to mark the RNLI’s 200th anniversary, she knew a sugary tribute wasn’t her style. It couldn’t capture the tangle of raw emotions she’d witnessed first-hand on lifeboat rescues. Instead, she drew on her own experience of being saved. Find a quiet moment to listen to this episode; let Eleanor’s evocative storytelling transport you to the dark waters of Lough Derg and the calm she found there, floating. Hear how the crew insulate themselves against the ‘rabid creature’ that is fear – and find out why a smile is a priceless piece of crew kit. Read the full poem below.
Float to Live
The sea recites as wind regales,
it tugs at tides’ unceasing echo, anchors
between land and thoughts of land.
My legs fall beneath; we all float differently –
and the sea talks to itself – soundings in my ears
as I tilt my stare to watch rain translate the sky.
I extend both hands to grasp what reaches back,
and the sea coils round to trawl my shoal of memories –
I tip my toes north and east and the sea slaps my soul.
As the vault above opens, and stars bloom on the axis
of night, the sea settles, bears me up. Weighing me
and countless more, sea grows damp in my bones.
I follow a satellite’s drunken path past Pegasus,
and wonder how the sober strobe on my chest signals.
I wonder too if I’ll be found. And brought back. And when.
Engines growl as the lifeboat parts the night’s dark silks.
Your shout ‘over there’ and your plea to ‘hold on’
as the sea holds on… but your grip is more convincing
and the sea lets go. You swaddle and soothe,
say what a heart needs to heal, as you carry me back
to land wet footprints on the world.