The Sad Sock Saga by the late Anne Candrl
At a Memorial Carol Service in Lymington recently, the poem below was read; it is called The Sad Sock Saga and was written by a former patient of Oakhaven Hospice, Anne Candrl, and is reprinted here with the generous permission of her family.
A single sock lay quite forlorn upon the bedroom floor
It did not know just where it was, had not been there before
What have I done it thought so sadly, crying in itself,
I should be with my partner tucked away upon a shelf.
It waited patiently to be picked up and sorted out
But mornings came and evenings went and it began to doubt,
I’m going to stay here all my life it thought with great depression
Within this world, although I’m new, I’ve made not much impression.
It loudly called out to its mate which bought a faint reply,
But many other calls it heard which made it wonder why,
Then slowly from the darkness under beds and corners dusty
Appeared 10 million single socks all smelling somewhat musty.
A great crowd gathered happily around this long lost friend,
It heard them say ‘come Stripy, sad days are at an end’.
‘Come join the reds, the blues and greens, the woollies and the plain,
Life has only started friend, you’ll not be on your own again.’
So Stripy was a happy sock he’d found his dusty corner,
He knew he was with many friends no longer just a loner.
The fun they had was wonderful; they danced and played all day
And when the evening came, well then they danced the night away.
He didn’t mind the fact he was a Stripy sock and single,
In fact it added to the fun and gave him quite a tingle.
And soon he gathered dust and was just the same as others,
They were his mates and all became like long lost friends and brothers.
So if you see a single sock that does not have a mate
Don’t put it in an ice-cream box, this is a dreadful fate.
But set it free in single sock land, free to find a friend,
My tale is over and it’s time to say this is ‘the end’.