Cilla Poem by Angela Wybrow

This Liverpool lass was a national treasure;
She filled our hearts with hours of pleasure.
With her sunny smile and hair of flame,
Cilla became a household name.

Working at the Cavern as a cloak-room girl,
She dreamed of a much more exciting world.
In the swinging 60s, she was the top-
Selling artiste in the genre of pop.

As she grew older, we saw her most
On prime-time TV as a much-loved host;
On ‘Surprise Surprise’, in her later years,
She moved us all to floods of tears,

As we watched long-lost families being reunited –
Hugging each other and looking delighted.
Or people’s wishes suddenly coming true,
After terrible times which they’d been through.

On ‘Blind Date’, she tried her best to match
Those seeking love – those still unattached.
For numerous couples, she smoothed the path
While having a ‘lorra, lorra, lorra laughs’.

At the BAFTA Awards in twenty-fourteen,
She was honoured for work on both record and screen.
In twenty-fifteen, there came a sad day
When our beloved Cilla passed away.

Her sudden death the nation mourned,
And her music again took the charts by storm.
Her hit ‘Anyone Who Had a Heart’
Suddenly went racing up the charts.

By her sudden death, folk were shocked –
To pay their respects, many folk flocked.
Our beloved Cilla may be gone,
But her music and memory still live on.