Doing my returns
Checking out my interest
Discerning my worth
An email from my accountant, it must be tax returns time…
(12.10.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Spirituality
Poem 1026 – The Eulogist’s Quandary
How can one convey
A life in fifteen minutes
And not the life it takes
For it to be unfurled
Preparing a funeral this evening
(07.10.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Andrew Lvov on Unsplash
Poem 1025 – Harvest Hills
Man-made mountain range
Tectonic plates surge upwards
Gratitude ridges
Another busy day with the foodbank, not just arranging parcels, but receiving so much food from our generous Borough. I don’t think I can lift another crate today, I’m totally exhausted but so grateful.
(06.10.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Poem 1017 – Psalm 133
I’ve often wondered about Aaron’s beard…
Was it full throttle ZZ Top
or something much more closely cropped?
A shaggy mop where birds could nest,
or neat coiffure for Sunday best?
Poirot curls or Viking plaits?
Something at home with a tricorn hat?
But this i know no matter how weird,
It’s a mass of hairs so closely adhered,
That although they’re different they appear,
To be a single glorious beard!
Enjoyed our Churches Together service tonight.
(28.09.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Poem 1016 – When I’m Gone
The world will still turn round each day,
The Sun and Moon will dance their dance,
Gravity will constant tug,
The tide flow in and then depart.
My absence will be soon forgotten,
Opinions once so clear will pass,
My footprints will all fade from sight,
And passions strong no longer last.
So what remains for me today,
When all is just a fleeting song?
Seeking to be a harmonious note,
Amongst the divergent musical throng.
Written whilst in the queue for The Globe. There’s something about standing here in London by the Thames that reminds me of our temporary nature as humans. So much has been here for far longer than I have and will continue long after I’m gone.
(27.09.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Ana Paula Grimaldi on Unsplash
Poem 996 – A Poet’s Prayer
Poem 991 – This Moment
Neither one nor the other
This is a transient place:
The air between two pages,
One breath from death to life,
Teetering on the cliff
Of leaving and becoming.
Nervous, we balance, wondering
What our story will be,
Caught in the gap of change.
In so many different ways (personal, political, work-wise, environmental) life seems to have a liminal quality at the moment, leaving what was, but not quite clear what it is becoming.
(02.09.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Asghar Khan on Unsplash
Poem 990 – Post-Holiday Haiku
It’s back to business
Whilst trying to hang onto
Rediscovered space
Resisting the post-Greenbelt blues!
(01.09.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Poem 988 – Not Letting Go
Coming to an end
A basketful of memories
Taking them beyond
Last day of Greenbelt before it takes a year off and relocates. We’re ‘letting it all go’ or maybe not.
(30.08.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
Poem 986 – Treasure in the Field
Surviving portaloo roulette
And alcohol rub on broken skin,
Finding faith and hope in doubt,
And old friends, new friends, heavenly kin.
Chatting with the poet Paul
(See I can name drop too although
Predictive text turned that into
Babe drop but that’s no place to go).
Martin Joseph apologising
To George whilst summoning the sun,
Avoiding all the forecast rain
Until it all came all at once.
Singing Bohemian Rhapsody in
The dark until the power returned,
Helping strangers push their buggies
Stuck in the post-storm muddy churn.
Singing along with men from Leith,
The main stage headline show
All treasure found in the field beneath
Us even as we let it go…
Some if the highlights from today’s Greenbelt.
(28.08.26)
© Ben Quant 2026
