the friend online
03 October 2008

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


 


This week's .pdf
In this week's online edition... rss edition
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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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