Parky Poetry | World Parkinson's Day 2025
Today is the day as the saying often goes,
World Parkinson’s Day if you’re not in the know,
But why the eleventh of April each year?
It’s James Parkinson’s birthday so, let’s all give a cheer.
His life started in Shoreditch a long time ago,
The year 1755 if you really must know,
He studied the condition that was given his name,
To be true ‘Shaking Palsy’ sounded terribly lame.
What else did he do if this wasn’t enough?
He kept himself busy studying fossils and rocks.
He fathered eight children with his poor darling wife,
Who couldn’t say ‘NO’ in Victorian life.
So, what’s there to celebrate, what’s this day all about?
We’ve got flipping Parkinson’s, I can hear you all shout,
Well, the more that we make other people aware,
The more we inform them, the more they will care.
So, let’s wish Happy Birthday to Parkinson, Jim,
Because putting it simply if it wasn’t for him,
We’d all have ‘Shaking Palsy’ or it’s posh Latin name,
‘Paralysis Agitans’ which just don’t sound the same!
Mark Coxe