In the Wake of Woolwich

Dispatches

In the Wake of Woolwich

May 24, 2013

I DO NOT usually place poetry in the dispatches. In the Wake of Woolwich refers to the aftermath of the beheading of a soldier off-duty from Woolwich Barracks, London, who was attacked in the street. Several bystanders tried to come to his aid, and they did their best to ward of the attacker who had become frenzied.

I

Reconciliation

Let us always aim for reconciliation

Let us take care of each other

Let us reach across the divides

and break down the barriers.

Live and let live

Tolerate and assist.

Rebuild shattered lives,

each of us contributing

in whichever way we can.

Let us resist the dictator!

In the face of unforgiveness, Forgive.

Where there is no mercy, show mercy.

Where there is no compassion

then compassion show, the price regardless.

Make our watchwords be three Pillars.

These are the pillars

of Enlightened Civilisation.

Reconciliation ~ Mercy ~ Compassion

and let the Lintel lying over them

be Unconditional Love

Image Photo by JD Mason on Unsplash

“Life is a Lintel supported by Pillars

”

— Kenneth Thomas Webb

II

Let us not be racist.

Let us cease the bullying.

Let us renounce thuggery.

Let our Watchword be ‘Tolerance’ ~ the clarion call of true freedom.

Learn from the past by not turning our back on history.

See what others have done and what even we have done to others.

Let our watchword be Caution - great caution - when we seek to rewrite history.

Let us always examine our motive.

Am I rewriting this historical record in order to set the record straight, or am i perchance rewriting history to dovetail with, and support, my personal agenda.

Let us always be ever watchful of ideology.

Image Photo by Mr Cup / Fabien Barral on Unsplash

III

Do not judge and you will not be judged.

A Great Man two millennia ago,
challenged as to why He healed
on a forbidden day
(an act so small, but which even smaller-minded men
could not tolerate nor even contemplate)
replied, leaving His questioners speechless,
quoting to them the very Word
they claimed to live by;
and in so doing
proclaimed His Deity
but signed His death warrant . . .

I will have compassion
upon whom I will have compassion
and I will have mercy upon
whom I will have mercy
says The LORD! [i]

What? He says this to us?!?

He dares to quote that which
declares that Moses shall not
see His Face!! [ii]

Now He tells us
His face is The Face!!!

And hate-filled men that day
Beholders of the peace no less
plotted His death
upon a dirty execution stake,
nailed through hands and feet
such was their need for revenge;
and so rabid in obtaining that revenge
they had not hesitation
not a jot or tittle [iii]
when it was convenient for them
to use the occupying power’s
means of demise whom they despised.

Image Photo by Erika Fletcher on Unsplash

IV

Let us reach out.
Let us not hold grudges.
Let us not buckle or bend the knee
to tyranny, racism, and
any other form of hate.

But neither live
by eye or tooth,
for out of context [iv]
that gives no room,
and only feeds revenge.

Let us not live life through ‘literal’ interpretation of words written two, three, four and even five thousand years ago! The principles may well stand true, but not the physical enunciation; for that renders us barbaric, medieval, primeval.

Be always mindful of the greatest name of all:

I AM.

I Am Who I Am,

He said.

I Am The Eternal Self-Existing One!

[v]

He has given us a principle by which to live:

I am who I am. . .
I am what I am. . .
I am as He made me to be. . .
I am not repugnant in His Eyes. . .
I am His delight!

As it is written,
It is a terrible thing
to
fall into the Hands
of the
Living G-D

[vi]

End

Ian Bradley Marshall

May 24, 2013

All Rights Reserved

Liverpool

© 2022 Ian Bradley Marshall

Sources and References

[i] Exodus 33 : 19

[ii] Exodus 33 : 20

[iii] Matthew 5 : 18

[iv] Matthew 5 : 38-48

[v] Isaiah 45 : 5-7

[vi] Hebrews 10 : 31