‘I was a stranger and ye took me in. Patet Omnibus. I was Sick and ye visited me.’

Royal to Quartermile

His kidneys were failing and ye took him in,
He was dying on dialysis and ye gave him life.

This place where my father lay ill
Transforms itself to an institute of futures.
Once where illness, cure and death unfurled
Now cherishes a vision of collective hope
And chances for change in our complex world.

Chequered corridors and dusky red walls, now lost,
And staircases switched to state-of-the art spaces.
But like memories of my father, old donors’ names stay
In echoes of those dreamers, thinkers and doers and are
Recycled into current connections for a brand new day.

I saw hope revived in the wards that have since been demolished
And now as rain pelts down onto a re-laid sandstone concourse,
Sparkles of nurses’ compassion, medical innovation and promise
That shone before, now pave a positive path, pointing forwards
Where creatives and communities can lay a new future out for us.

The Royal’s gift allowed my father to see his children married and grandchildren born
And so too will this beginning at the Quatermile blossom as Edinburgh Futures new dawn.