Parted by the miles
Frustrated by the distance
Can love leap the gap
Facing the challenge of being there.
(30.09.25)
© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Micah & Sammie Chaffin on Unsplash
Relationships
Poem 698 – Impossible Tightrope?
Attempting to both
Move into the neighbourhood
And be a pilgrim
Walking the tension
Between putting down deep roots
And living lightly
Trying to invest
In other people whilst not
Losing his footsteps
I’m currently reading Joanne Harris’ new book Vianne, which explores the risk of losing freedom by putting down roots, and in so doing captures the tension as some Christians present it between being ‘in this world but not of it’.
(24.09.25)
© Ben Quant 2025
Poem 696 – Embracing Awkwardness
The respectful awkwardness
When something is said that everyone
Disagrees with and yet
The decision has been made
That all are welcome here.
The love that says we’ll hear
Your views and not dismiss
You or your right to speak
Because we value you
And therefore what you say.
The tension that we live with
Because we are a family
And that’s what families do
As relationships are more
Important than being right.
I love watching groups embracing awkwardness instead of insisting on their own interpretation, political view or doctrine.
(22.09.25)
© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash
Poem 692 – Three Sandwiches
A Bacon Sandwich:
Two slices of bread with meat in between,
The perfect blend (forgive me veggies),
Both perfectly complementing each other.
A Marken Sandwich:
Two gospel stories intertwined,
The second tucked inside the first,
Giving meaning to each other.
A Human Sandwich:
The symbiotic network
That comes from living in community,
Identify found in relation to each other.
We’re looking at Mark’s Gospel at church and how he structures his narrative to communicate to us. Tonight we talked about the Marken Sandwich.
(18.09.25)
© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by amirali mirhashemian on Unsplash
Poem 686 – Today’s Poem
Interviews and in-laws
No time to type today
But perceiving poetry in
All its alliteration
A busy day with no time for more than a quick scribble.
(12.09.25)
© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Álvaro Serrano on Unsplash
Poem 684 – They’re Back!
A torrent of toddlers teaming in,
A stream of squealing, screaming sound,
A shouting, shoal of shiny din.
Pouring past our open doors,
Abandoning bags and boots around,
And flowing onto every floor.
Playdough, crayons and other craft,
Friendships on a seesaw found,
Filling the church with fun and laughter.
After the break we’re back on track,
So look out folks, toddlers are back!
Our toddler group returned today after the summer holidays. It was wonderful to have them back.
(10.09.25)
© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by E Hillsley on Unsplash
Poem 682 – Signs of Life
Did you know a house can die? It’s true.
Our neighbour died and like a loyal pet,
his house began to pine, the peeling paint
its tears, and spreading weeds its growing grief.
As beams decayed its backbone bent all hunched,
and boarded up, sad eyes began to close.
But even then the faintest pulse remained,
the finest thread of life tied on to hope,
a flicker waiting for resuscitation.
Today that longed for life at last moved in.
Going for an evening walk tonight, we notice that we have new neighbours.
(08.09.25)
© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Untitled Photo on Unsplash
Poem 681 – Cocktail Maths
Can two and two make five?
Depends on who you ask.
A mathematician? No way!
George Orwell? Ask Big Brother…
A parent? Might seem so.
But me? I’m sure it can.
Mix two congregations
and stir to make a drink
tastier than the sum.
Or start a conversation
between two different lands,
and all will be enriched.
A single flag is good
but I prefer a mashup
of loads of different ones.
It’s been a good day! A joint service to start with, an afternoon conversation with friends from our Conversation Café, and praying for local asylum seekers to end the day.
(07.09.25)
© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Kobby Mendez on Unsplash
Poem 679 – A Chinese Moveaway
A few months into university
I’d got used to you being away.
The house was ours again and, during
the working day, just mine. I’d play my music
loudly without the risk of disturbing you
and watch whatever I wanted to at lunch.
Is it wrong to say that it was good?
But Covid called and back you came. And stayed.
Today you put an offer on a house
and I am so, so thrilled for you, I am.
But I find inside that I’m not so ready
to say goodbye. An empty house no longer
seems as liberating as before.
I’m sure that I’ll get used to it, I will,
but today just feels a little sweet and sour.
Change is on the horizon.
(05.09.25)
© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Erda Estremera on Unsplash
Poem 673 – The Loft
A day of archaeology in the loft
Peeling back the layers through the years
Past Christmas trees and bags of decorations
Old cardboard boxes kept in case of need
The children’s toys kept for the grandchildren
Memories of precious moments housed in tins
Cards, photos, school books and a wedding dress
Reminders of those now no longer here.
A random iron in a grimy box
A bag of gifts given in Sierra Leone
A stash of trash in need of sorting through
Or treasure trove of objects that we own?
A day spent doing a bit of ‘spring’ cleaning.
(30.08.25)
© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Trnava University on Unsplash
Ode for the Day 