Prejudice

Poem 440 – The Extent of My Knowledge

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I am ignorant of the life you’ve lived.
I am ignorant of the world you live in.
I am ignorant of how you feel.
I am ignorant of what for you is real.
I am ignorant of what has moulded you.
I am ignorant of what controls you.
I am ignorant of its expectations.
I am ignorant of its revelations.
I am ignorant of your aspirations.
I am ignorant of your hesitations.
I am ignorant of the shoes you chose.
I am ignorant of the shoes you’re given.
I am ignorant of what you want.
I am ignorant of what you need.
I am ignorant.

Inspired by my conversations today in both pastoral visits and at our Conversation Cafe. I’m astonished by how little I know of the world, and how little I appreciate or recognise the experiences of those around me.
(28.02.25)

© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Ben Weber on Unsplash

Poem 412 – Conversation Cafe

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We meet on Friday’s, one o’clock;
foreign faces, different tongues.
Talking with stumbling voices and
a trowel, each time we lay another
brick. Slowly a bridge is built
until at last we finally meet.

One of the highlights of the last year has been our Conversation Cafe at church. Each week we meet a group of Kurdish women, who want to improved their conversational English. We’ve gained as much as they have as we’ve got to know them and their culture.
(31.01.25)

© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

Poem 43 – The Foodbank is Open

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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