Politics

Poem 327 – Selina

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For such a time as this
a woman placed perfectly
within the social web.

Restricted by her sex
but bold in faith and hope,
she rejected expectation.

Ensnared by Love she weaved
compassionately a net
to catch her wary peers.

With tea and conversation
she welcomed with her chaplain
noble and politician.

Meanwhile the miner, unschooled
children, the poor and sick,
also received her care.

And as this web was woven
a grace filled spell was cast
entrancing church and country.

I’ve been reading up on the finder of our church’s movement, Selina, the Countess of Huntingdon. What a remarkable woman, to me, the Esther of her age. She deserves to be remembered so much more than she is – and a better ode than this!
(19.10.24)

© Ben Quant 2024
Photo: Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon by Unknown artist oil on card, circa 1770 NPG 4224 © National Portrait Gallery, London. Used with permission.

Poem 320 – Next Time…

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The annual attempt to represent
my life within the cellular confines
of an excel spreadsheet.

My comings in and goings out
laid down in stark columns of numbers
and totalled up for all to see.

It’s hard to get excited about
the number of cups of tea, and stamps,
and miles I have consumed.

And so as the deadline looms
I strain to recollect exactly
what I did a year ago.

There, it’s done. Click send and breathe.
Now it’s in the accountant’s hands.
Next time, I promise, I’ll do it earlier.

With the end of the tax year falling near Easter, despite good intentions, I never quite get around to filling in my tax returns when I know I should…
(12.10.24)

© Ben Quant 2024
Photo by Olga DeLawrence on Unsplash

Poem 309 – Two Worlds

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When two worlds collide
Just what is the solution
When the argument between
Defence and prosecution
Ignores what is offered
Ignores resolution
Is all about winning
Not peaceful conclusion
There’s no accommodation
And this generation
Remains stuck in the past
Follows the last
There’s no way out
No chance for doubt
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
Take out the doors
And blow off the roof
The victims the innocent
Along with the truth
The children are crying
Their parents are dying
Following the firing
Of bullets and bombs
Hope is undone
By the use of the gun
Can’t we please all step back
Get life back on track
Put down all our weapons
And stop the parading
And all the lie trading
There’s work to be done
If we are to find
Peace in our time
When two worlds collide
And help them align

A bit of a word splurge, this one. Definitely not my usual style at all, and probably a bit naff. A case of starting to write, following the flow, and seeing where it took me. And this is it.
(01.10.24)

© Ben Quant 2024
Photo by Emad El Byed on Unsplash

Poem 289 – Cats

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It’s not enough to take our jobs,
And skulk upon our streets in mobs
Be housed in what were once our flats,
Apparently they’re eating cats

They come here for an easy ride
An onslaught that’s a rising tide
And swarming like a cloud of gnats
Apparently they’re eating cats

Their aim is to corrupt our children
Destroy all our fathers built us
And now we find on top of that
Apparently they’re eating cats

This is the heart of Donald’s moaning
To tell the truth it’s all baloney
Like much he says it’s made up, phoney,
So laugh with Kamala when Trump claims that
The immigrants are all eating cats

Trump’s absurd one-liner in last night’s presidential debate just had to be turned into rhyme…
(11.09.24)

© Ben Quant 2024
Photo by Lloyd Henneman on Unsplash

Poem 272 – Bridging

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This morning we broke bread with you.
This bread, freshly baked beforehand,
was tossed from one to another until
we all had enough to eat; a modern-
day feeding of the five thousand.

It was an unexpected twist,
this rugby ball distribution that
worked so magnificently, hilariously.
I laughed until I realised that
I could not toss Christ’s bread to you.

I could not toss it because of the wall
that stood between us, the wall from which
your enlarged face appeared and spoke.
I could not toss it because of the shrinking perimeter penning you in your home.

Remember the collapse of the Berlin Wall?
Walls can be bridged, dismantled, toppled,
but what can bridge the gap between us?
Only the outstretched bread of Christ,
the refusal to be enemies.

The biggest event at Greenbelt is the Sunday morning communion service. This morning it was supposed to be led by Daoud Nassar from Bethlehem. Sadly he could not join us, increased illegal settler activity around his farm, ‘The Tent of Nations,’ meant that he felt he had to stay. Instead he joined by live link, speaking from a large video screen. He and family refuse to respond to the threat with violence and instead seek to withstand peacefully, with the words ‘we refuse to be enemies’ emblazoned on their wall.
https://tentofnations.com/
(25.08.24)

© Ben Quant 2024



Poem 267 – Numbers

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Numbers is found in the Jewish Torah,
the Christian Old Testament,
and the Muslim Tawrat.
It contains the lists of the living.

All three also share
an eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth.

Here are some numbers,
but this time the dead
not the living.

In Hamas’ attack
the 7th of October
1139 Israelis were killed.
251 taken hostage.
Each number a person.
Each person a family.
Each family a community.
Each one, one of us.

They say overall
more than 40,000 Palestinians
have died in response.
Each number a person.
Each person a family.
Each family a community.
Each one, one of us.

These numbers don’t scan
or make easy poetry
but that’s not the point.
They’re awkward.
They should be.

Now I don’t know
if these numbers are true
but I know that an eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth
was meant as a concession
and not an instruction,
a limit to violence
and not an extension.
I also know that each
one is too much,
that piling more on
won’t get us to zero.

Do call me naive
or say I’m simplistic
but to me it is simple:
violence breeds violence
and might isn’t right.
There’s only one way
we can stop this increase
and that is to stop.

It’s hard to know at a distance how reliable the numbers we’re hearing from this conflict are, but clearly they’re high. Sometimes the bravest and strongest response is to have the courage to ‘turn the other cheek’ as Jesus said in his commentary on ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’. Naive? Perhaps. Risky, certainly. But…
(20.08.24)

© Ben Quant 2024
Photo by Emad El Byed on Unsplash

Poem 255 – 1,000

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1,000 standing shoulder to shoulder,
a peaceful declaration that
enough’s enough, it’s time to stop

1,000 saying silently that
the rowdy aren’t the loudest and
their voices will be swamped by love

1,000 showing bravely that
our country isn’t built on borders,
false lines between the few and many

1,000 shouldering responsibility
for the nature of our land
and asylum seekers seeking safety

Inspired by the communities gathering in response to the recent riots.
(08.08.24 – edited 09.08.24)

© Ben Quant 2024

Poem 251 – Under Our Flag

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Since when is stealing shoes,
burning bins or smashing windows,
a form of discourse rather than violence?

Since when is encircling hotels,
hurling abuse and chucking stones,
a form of protest rather than a siege?

Since when is wearing a balaclava
standing up to be counted
rather than hiding one’s guilt?
And spreading misinformation
not a barefaced lie?

If you have a legitimate reason to protest,
protest legitimately, not like this,
not under our flag.

Like many, I’m bewildered and shocked by the scenes in our country right now.
(04.08.24)

© Ben Quant 2024
Photo by Pawel Janiak on Unsplash (representative image, not from the current situation)

Poem 222 – Christmas 2023

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If Christ was born today
he’d not be manger bound
but laid within the dust.

This year there’d be no shepherds,
nor angelic song,
sirens will sound the welcome.

With Banksy grafitiing
four bombers on a stop sign,
no dreams are required to run.

Joining the refugee train
I find myself pleading
where have the wise men gone…

This poem was inspired by the photo, a nativity scene outside Christmas Lutheran Church, Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. Exploring the Christmas story with the events unfolding in the Palestine/Israel this season has had quite a different feel to it.
(25.12.23)

© Ben Quant 2023