Why I came to the Meeting house
Walking past the sign made me curious.
And there have been events that puzzle me.
Something which feels like a voice –
odd words out of the blue awaken me,
disrupting my work.
This happens more and more frequently.
And I’m encircled by noise,
the jabber of jingles, slogans,
(I’m loving it. Your custom is important.)
as well as by broadcast lies.
The promise that peace is made out of guns and ID cards,
barricades, surveillance cameras.
And I have these dreams.
Millions of us trapped in a shopping precinct,
needing to get to the exit, find daylight.
Everyone surges in the wrong direction.
I’m trying my hardest to shout
Stop! Turn round!
Only no sound comes out.
And even with people I love
I do not speak my mind
which is crammed with awkward opinions, doubts,
in case they change the subject. Laugh.
I carry a load of questions
and need a place to put them on the ground.
And somebody said there’d be tea and biscuits after.
Sibyl Ruth, winner of the 2008 Mslexia magazine women’s poetry competition, is a member of Central England Area Quaker Meeting.
Sybil Ruth’s award-winning Mslexia poem
Sibyl Ruth
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In this week's
online edition...
cover
Dear visitor
Judy Kirby, editor, the Friend The poetry of silence and the prose of action
Kevin Franz The spiritual path for me?
Ron Kentish What about Hitler?
Geoffrey Carnall Why I came to the Meeting house
Sibyl Ruth Why I love Meeting for Worship
Bob Johnson Recharging our Quaker batteries
Harriet Hart Loving the Spirit of the Age
Laurie Michaelis Give Jesus a promotion!
David Boulton Jesus and me
Paul Oestreicher Restorative justice
Marian Liebmann ‘Our Lives’: working in disadvantaged communities
Rowena Loverance Conciliation behind the scenes
Oliver Robertson Far more than pacifism
Rosemary Hartill On being a Quaker artist
Rowena Loverance
q-eye
eye@thefriend.org
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