PULLOVER
Dimension
PULLOVER
August 2025
The Springboard
Our wish is threefold…
to be loved,
to be cared for,
to be free from society's pressure.
How about finding peace,
within this present realm?
A place to belong,
whether living or dead.
If only…
The Dive
That Leap of Faith
The Voice
What was that? I heard a voice, I’m sure…
(Picture sitting at your desk.
Deep in thought, drifting.
Progress on the project is slow.
Study is not going well, reflecting the maelstrom you feel immersed in)
Can I help you?
Not really
Who are you anyway?
How did you get in here?
That’s a good jumper, mate
I like it
Oh, that?
Yeah. Full of Holes!
… and sums up how I feel
Why?
Why what?
I mean I don’t know who you are!
I ‘ve no patience with people who just barge in,
And I can’t stand preachers of any sort!
Ha! Preaching?
Me? Preach? Pull the other one!
No. I've just popped in …
Yeah, you have.
Who the hell are you?!
It doesn’t matter …
Look!
I think you’d better leave mate, okay?
You’re pissing me off.
You’re pissing me off too.
Got any of that wine?
Oh, this is just bloody stupid!
I’ll go, but I'd like a drink first.
Okay?
Huhhhhhhhh!?!?!
Okay, wait here!
…he gets up, slinging his holey jumper on the seat-back and retrieves a plastic cup,
stops, looks at the clean cup, turns back and retrieves his used cup from the bin;
turning round he places both on the desk and grabs the bottle.
Fresh wine into the clean cup, a fresh drop in the used cup.
‘wish to be loved…’
What did you say?
‘cared for…’
(non-plussed)
Got that drink?
The wine bubbles on contact with stale wine.
He pauses again, looks at both,
shrugs his shoulders,
hands the fresh plastic cup to his unwelcome visitor.
You’ve got grapes
I often see it in the images
you send out sometimes as a thank you ~
Grapes, glasses and wine.
That’s class, Dragan!
Here. How do you know my name?
I just do.
Are you a stalker mate?
Coz if you are then I can tell you now
You’ll be out that door faster than your bloody
arse came in.
Yep. That’s my Dragi.
Direct, blunt and to the point.
That’s why I like you!
‘Free from society’s pressure…’
Look, I'm sorry if I was rude
Sorry if you overheard me muttering,
I do that sometimes.
I mean we all do don’t we?
Like we talk to ourselves without really realising we are…
Sure. Except you didn’t.
You wrote it.
Wrote it?
Wrote what?
…irritability wrinkles his smooth forehead
So you HAVE been looking at my stuff.
What’s yer effin game?!
I'm no mug.
I've seen shit in this life
And it hurts okay?
And I’ll hurt you too…
No, you won’t…
What do you…?
Your heart is clean, lad
Awareness dawns
an inner awareness that he’s looking at
someone not of this city,
this town,
this district,
this country,
oh sh … … … …
this realm…
this other realm
May I sit?
Lost in a sea of thoughts
A lifetime of contradictions
A life of seeing hell on earth
of death and destruction
annihilation
of abandonment
no home
just a dirty road to walk,
a hasty dash at night
under cover of darkness
with strangers,
with soldiers seeking out
his people, even him
for who he is
for who his family is
for what he is
for what his family are
Dragan …
He glances…
Dragan sit down.
Sit on the bed.
I’ll sit here on the desk chair.
I quite like it actually.
My friends often sit here
when you’re working …
I often sit here too.
I love the way you study
The way in which you maintain
Your inventory of everything.
Your ability to catalogue.
And, of course,
Your skill with your pen
and the sheer divine touch
you bring with your lens.
‘A place to belong,
Whether…’
Yes…whether living or dead
Look, I don’t know how you
know all this
but there is something… …
…I feel stupid saying it…
Go on
I can take it
Well, like you’re
not of this realm.
God, that sounds like vomit verse!
What I mean, not of this earth
I mean, as if you’re unending…
As if you’re, oh this is plain stupid,
more as if you’re universal…
God! What the hell am I saying?
I’ll be asking you if you’ve got
wings next!
He smiled.
Eyes darker than wine,
Teeth whiter than milk. [i]
An inner radiance glowed
Casting a blueness ~ a royal blue
Across Dragan’s shadow
That even he could see in the mirror opposite.
You’re not actually far from the truth
How many dimensions can you see, Dragi?
Dimensions?
What sort of question is…
Well…three dimensions and
I guess
A fourth dimension
If I add the religious lot.
Good. Keep in mind from now on
There are thousands.
Okay?
Thousands? … …!!
Um sorry. Yes. Right.
A peaceful silence entered.
Even his visitor was reluctant to speak.
It was Dragan’s first opportunity to really study his visitor
The gentle profile,
The shimmering,
Yet very much here, in this century.
His countenance, though, seemed as if
he was Intent.
Observant.
Listening
The only phrase that came to Dragi’s mind from nowhere was
Respectful obedience
His gaze returned to Dragan
Dragan, the questions and statements
you made…
We hear you.
I’m here to reassure you
that you are greatly loved,
greatly cared for,
The way your life is unfolding
as you are surrounded by your family and friends,
The family and friends that YOU are creating
in place of your natural loss
is a joy to behold for Us
and We are here with you all the time.
You’ve asked for a place to belong
both in life and death
Dragan, I'm here to reassure you
That your place, your belonging
IS already part of you.
We know your quest to make that quantum leap.
You are spirit
I am spirit.
You are created
I am created.
I'm from that other place.
But because I'm created
I'm not to be worshipped kiddo!
I’ll say it again lad.
Because I’m created
you are not to worship me or my kind!
Got it?
… a slow, very slow silent nod of each syllable …
yes, got it
Continue along the path you now walk,
And you WILL have all of the petitions
that you desire of Him, of Them. [ii]
Do you understand?
Another pause, deliberate
Verstehen Sie, Dragi?
wide-eyed wonderment
What do you mean?
You’re not a ghost
I can see you’re flesh and blood!
Yes,
Remember that story at school
you liked?
Who rolled the stone?
Yep, that’s the one.
It was quite heavy!
A wink of the eye
that dazzled as a diamond!
A flash so bright as to make the morning sun seem dull
I do like this holey jersey of yours.
HARD TIMES!
but Dragi, you’re not alone.
Are you saying you’re an angel?
What’s more, the one who rolled the stone
In Gethsemane?
I thought…sorry…wings
The Angel of the LORD
Stood with glory all around him
Alighting the study
Now, a crimson glow
I bring you His blessing
by His Command
The LORD bless you and keep you Dragan,
The LORD makes His Face to shine upon you
and be gracious to you, Dragan,
And the LORD lift up his Countenance upon you.
And give you peace. [iii]
Another very slight pause
Ich bringe dir seinen Segen
auf seinen Befehl
Der HERR segne dich und behüte dich, Dragan.
Der HERR lasse sein Angesicht leuchten über dir und sei dir gnädig;
Der HERR hebe sein Angesicht über dich und gebe dir Frieden.[iv]
A touch, feather-like, of the hand upon his head, less than a second yet at seemed an hour
And in that final instant
The royal blue transcended by
The whiteness of wings
As, in Dragan’s mind, he departed
Those eyes, that smile
Seared onto Dragan’s mind forever
*
Did he dream?
He awoke with the first rays of the morning sun
The scene, as vivid then as it had been in the night.
That dream!
Have I been reading too much?
He glanced at his jersey on the coat hangar
The words did not feel so harsh or stark today.
He went into the bathroom… paused…
slowly, very slowly turned…
very hesitantly he walked back out, still with the toothbrush protruding out of his mouth.
The holes have gone.
It’s perfect!
5 August 2025
All Rights Reserved
LIVERPOOL
© 2014 Ian Bradley Marshall
Composed on the train Cheltenham to Liverpool ~ 2 January 2014
… the royal blue transcended by the whiteness of his wings as he departed …
That dream! Have I been reading too much? … …
What a dream … was it a dream? Why does this jersey now have no holes in it? It is too early to think. I’ll sit awhile and people-watch on the pavement - the first morning coffee is always the best!
Afterword 2025
It matters not our faith, or no faith... I'm not really into church... I don't like being told what to do and what not to do... and I don't like being made to feel I'm the dog's turd because I'm of a different denomination. Nor does epilepsy mean that I’m possessed by demons.
Every religion does this. Every denomination within every religion.
Down history, we see the centuries littered with cruelty, carnage, and the most shocking behaviour by people towards people. I therefore jealously guard my right to be outside the box.
Oh, you can’t take communion because…
you haven't been in the confessional and confessed your sins,
you're the wrong denomination ...
you're spiritually unclean...
you haven’t qualified as you haven’t majored in the Alpha Course
and so on.
Ermm… Byeeeee
Footnotes and Citations
[i] Genesis 49:12 KJV
[ii] 1 John 5:15 KJV
[iii] Numbers 6:24-26 ESV
[iv]4.MOSE 6:24-26 NACH MARTIN LUTHERS ÜBERSETZUNG, REDIVIERT 2017
Ken Webb is a writer and proofreader. His website, kennwebb.com, showcases his work as a writer, blogger and podcaster, resting on his successive careers as a police officer, progressing to a junior lawyer in succession and trusts as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, a retired officer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and latterly, for three years, the owner and editor of two lifestyle magazines in Liverpool.
He also just handed over a successful two year chairmanship in Gloucestershire with Cheltenham Regency Probus.
Pandemic aside, he spends his time equally between his city, Liverpool, and the county of his birth, Gloucestershire.
In this fast-paced present age, proof-reading is essential. And this skill also occasionally leads to copy-editing writers’ manuscripts for submission to publishers and also student and post graduate dissertations.
