Uncertainty brings bitterness and breeds
This mental hesitation, leading us
To hover over plans and pause before
We press the button and maybe withdraw
Brand new unknowns confuse and cause unease
When experts disagree in their response
Are parties on or off this Christmas season
To hold or not to hold that is the question
Listening to the news tonight various experts were asked if Christmas gatherings should be cancelled. There was not agreement…
(30.11.21)
© Ben Quant 2021
Who withdraws from our bank?
You can probably picture the sort
I know I did, but then I saw and
Abandoned presupposition
Some breeze bold and expectant, bravely
Talking of Spurs or the traffic, whilst
Others trapped by nervous embarrassment
Hover, eyes down, glued to the door
Once in, they can’t help but spill their travails
Requiring gentle ears to collect them
Divorced architects, nurses out of credit,
The furloughed and pandemic afflicted
Cabbies with the Knowledge but
Know-how’s not enough to turn things around
From social housing, tents, flats,
Leafy suburbs, even mansions
We’re all just a coincidence from crisis, a
Cocktail of events, concocting the perfect storm
A multicultural meteorological event
With no natural immunity or vaccine
Who withdraws from our bank?
It could be you or me…
The local foodbank was started in 2012, distributing from our church Monday to Friday. It has taught me many lessons. I hope and pray it has made a difference to our guests. I know it has made a difference to me.
(25.11.21)
© Ben Quant 2021
Tentative November’s a folk dance month
Unable to decide if it’s out or it’s in
Leaves bravely clinging to branches above
Fallen companions raked into the bin
The sun always rises but never quite makes it
Descending before it reaches the top
Fireworks shrill as Fawkes interrupted
But bombers press on and their plots do not stop
The eleventh we remember but still stand conflicted
Pushing and shoving to remain best of the lot
Decisions announced but next day rejected
Political turnarounds made on the spot
Superstore isles full of crackers and tinsel
Seasonal adverts promise festive fun
Christmas is here piped music’s proclaiming
But November’s not finished nor Advent begun
I always find November a confused month, a strange transition from one season to the next with Christmas looming large in the distance. This confusion seems to be seeping into our current affairs this year.
(18.11.21)
© Ben Quant 2021
Photo by Bryan Ledgard – https://www.flickr.com/photos/ledgard/10254453475/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58259782
I wish I’d asked but youth does not
Appreciate the finite opportunity possessed
By the time I realised time’s scarcity
Those doors were shut
What was it like as a youth yourself
Once island locked to bid goodbye
Leave familiar shores, be evicted abruptly
Those doors were shut
Sail to alien lands with brothers unknown
Fight famine, plague, war and face death
Grim conflict without, peace lost within
Those doors were shut
Finally coming home to family changed
Moved on in life without your presence
Faces altered but you’re the stranger
Those doors were shut
How could you cope with enduring such sorrow
Those vivid scenes secretly stashed away
A simple return to normality that couldn’t be
Those doors were shut
Armistice Day (11.11.21)
Edit: I reworked this overnight, not being completely happy with it before, especially the final stanza.
© Ben Quant 2021
Armistice Day (11.11.21)
© Ben Quant 2021
Filtered faces disguise
Deep fakes deceive
Social media echo chambers
Brexit lies or frees
Fishing boats blockade
Protestors bar the way
Climate change deniers frustrate
Empty shelves just tease
Practise track and trace
Download the Covid app
Swab the tonsils jab the nose
Negative test please…
It’s been a confusing and tempestuous few years and to top it all I was just asked to take a Covid test...
(31.10.21)
© Ben Quant 2021
Ode for the Day 