On the Moment's Spur
On the Moment’s Spur
When all around is in a whirl,
A maelstrom of horror
of man’s inhumanity to man,
Stand still!
Take stock,
And sense the calm
of the evening hour.
Do not rebuke myself.
Regardless of belief and non-belief
and just plain bewilderment,
If I find I need to kneel,
to plead
My Cause,
My Case,
My Appeal,
to some Higher Being
I just occasionally imagine,
Well, So be it!
It is a matter for me.
Not for you.
In any event…
Stand true!
Stand firm!
Stay calm!
Never feel alone,
Never feel bereft,
There is but a veil.
In those moments
of sudden desire
to act, say, or do
something,
Sense that prompting
from beyond this Veil …
It is my Calling.
Do not panic about what to say,
Leave this to my spirit.
Go into that most secret place.
Make no public showing.
Pay attention, None,
to rumours and ramblings,
to convincing clips,
that suggest a different theory.
Stand Firm!
Stand Resolute!
Stand God-Only-Wise!
Especially against the curtain-twitchers!
THAT is the order
in this grim and grievous hour!
Be confident.
I am on course!
23 January 2024
All Rights Reserved
© 2024 Kenneth Thomas Webb
Composed 19 June 2014
The Portrait is by kind permission of my very good friend Steve (SGE) of New Zealand
and to whom this piece is dedicated,
remembering all those wonderful conversations
in a house on Wooburn Green, a lifetime ago.
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.