To Be Loved

A Thousand Dimensions

Volume 1 2022

Our one wish is to be loved,
cared for,
and free from society's pressure.
How about finding peace,
within this mortal realm?
A place to belong,
whether living or dead. If only…

  

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!

And I don’t suffer fools gladly!!

And I don’t want you preaching!!!

 

Ha! Preaching?

Me? Preach? Pull the other one!

No. I've just popped in …

 

Yeah, but 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!

 

‘wish to be loved…’

 

What did you say?

‘cared for…’

 

(non-plussed)

 

Got that drink?

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

and I'm 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?

So you HAVE been looking at my stuff.

Now explain yourself because I'm no mug.

I've seen shit in this life

And it hurts okay?

And I’ll hurt you if I have to…

 

No, you won’t…

 

What do you…?

You have a pure heart

 

Awareness alights his face

an awareness that he’s looking at

someone not of this city

this town

this district

this country

oh my g … … … …

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 do your studies

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

I mean, you’re of an immortal realm…

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

And a radiance glowed from within him

And cast 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?

 

Dimensions?

What sort of question is…

Well…three dimensions and

I guess for people who have their faith

Then they’d insist on a fourth dimension

 

Good. Keep in mind from now on

A minimum of one thousand dimensions

Okay?

A thousand? … …!!

Um sorry. Yes. Right.

 

Dragan, the questions and statements

you made…

We hear you.

 

And I’m here to reassure you

that you are greatly loved,

greatly cared for,

and 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 and wonder 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

 

You are spirit

I am spirit.

You are created

I am created.

I'm from that immortal realm.

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

Do you understand?

Verstehen Sie?

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 Dragan,

And the Countenance of the LORD anoint you.

And They send you Their Peace

Ich bringe dir seinen Segen

auf seinen Befehl

Derr Herr segne dich und behalte dich, Dragan.

Derr Herr lässt sein Gesicht auf dich scheinen Dragan,

Und das Antlitz des HERRN, dich zu salben

Und sie senden dir ihren Frieden

 

A touch, feather-like, of the hand upon his head

And in that final instant

The royal blue transcended by

The whiteness of the wings

As 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

 

What an incredible 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 …

hesitantly he walked back out, still with the toothbrush

protruding out of his mouth

 

The holes have gone

It’s perfect!

 


25 November 2022
All Rights Reserved

© Kenneth Thomas Webb 2023


Composed on the train Cheltenham to Liverpool ~ 2 January 2014

… the royal blue transcended by the whiteness of his wings as he departed …

… the royal blue transcended by the whiteness of his wings as he departed …

What an incredible dream! Have I been reading too much? … …

What an incredible 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!

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 2022

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.

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. That doesn't stop me from thinking outside the box.

God help the man or woman who says, 'oh you can't take communion because you haven't been in the confessional and confessed your sins, you're the wrong denomination ... so you're, well, spiritually unclean...

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.