Election day today and so
I place a cross inside a box.
As I grip the stubby pencil
it brings to mind another choice,
not in a temporary booth tucked in
a deserted primary school like this,
but outside a dusty city wall
where hung a man who cast his vote,
a cross marked with his crimson love.
His vote? A vote for all: for strangers,
friends and enemies, for those
we chose to love, and those we chose
to hate, and those we do not see.
A vote with open arms and cast
with generous vulnerability.
Placing my cross inside a box
I pray I won’t do that with his.

It’s the local elections today and it will be fascinating to see how they pan out, it all feels very different from usual. As seems to so often be the case, how we perceive and treat those who are different from ourselves seems to be very much an issue.
(07.05.26)

© Ben Quant 2026
Photo by Phil Hearing on Unsplash