Today is a Good Day ~ Joyous ~ A Very Good Day
Foreword
Written in May 2011 in Liverpool, there was good reason to be so upbeat. 2 May 2011 (bank holiday) was the date upon which I had regained consciousness following three days of unchecked grand mal seizures. Alone at home, in between seizures, I had managed to keep count of the sunrises and sunsets through the skylight above me on the Waterfront. On Monday 2 May I’d recovered sufficiently to realize I needed to get to A&E and that if I went downstairs to the lounge I could (a) check what day it was by turning on BBC News 24, and (b) phone down to the Guardhouse and ask the team to call for paramedics.
All of that was simple … i.e., within the mind. But actually performing those simple tasks was something else. After major epileptic seizures, one plays over such things endlessly, the mind drifting in and out of consciousness. This drifting is quite long, in this situation it had been eleven hours. Eventually, the task was achieved.
Every cloud has a silver lining. This silver lining came in the form of Chapter Five: Crescendo in The Angel of Death Passed Over. I was very aware that the angel of death passed over me quite a few times during those terrifying days; I was aware, too, that I was thwarting it. In Crescendo, Maximilian didn’t. But the novel’s final Chapter Six was another silver lining too. But I do not attach literal importance to that. I have been on the receiving end of too much religious literalism.
Looking back eleven years, I realize why I wrote the poem, Today is a Good Day. I was regaining my equilibrium. And then, in 2014, came the sequel, Today is a Bad Day, not for me personally, but for millions around the world. Already, Ukraine was in turmoil with the annexation of Crimea and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.
As I review these two poems in January 2024, I watch with horror events in Ukraine, in the Middle East, and there is an involuntary sense of retching, the need to vomit, as I watch the implosion of the United States of America.
© 2024 Kenneth Thomas Webb | © 2024 Ian Bradley Marshall
Part I
Today is a good day
A very good day
There is hope on the air
A stirring of the spirit
A hint that better times are ahead
Today is a good day
A very good day
Life precedes death
But what is this?
Death precedes real life too
Today is a good day
A very good day
The sky above me is my canopy
Blue deep, becalming
A reflection of deep waters
beside me
Green, harnessing flicks of sunlight
Then showered by the waterfall
not a stride more away from me,
Sitting in the wicker chair…
A brief respite
On the day’s long journey south[i]
Today is a good day
A very good day
Water is life
Life is in light
And the light overcame darkness
And the darkness comprehended it not
As it is written
Today is a good day
A very good day
My spirit is at rest
My soul at peace
My countenance aligned
The sense of worth is tangible
The ability to reason is heightened
The knowledge that whatever befalls,
A better time will follow
in due course
At His choosing, His timing…
Today is a good day
A very good day
Friends abound throughout the earth
On the seas
In the air, even
Friends who are now family
Friends who are fighting battles
against the odds
And thereby inspiring me to do my work…
Without complaint
Without sorrow
Without burden
But with joy abounding
Today is a good day
A very good day
Relationships are formed
Relationships, seemingly faltering,
Now stronger than ever before!
Lines of communication open
Dialogue giving way to discourse
Conversation giving way to intimacy
Intimacy giving way
to the quest for ever greater knowledge
And not out of step with The Maker
Regardless of allegory
that has bound the ages
since the story was first set to paper
Aeons ago
Today is a good day
A very good day
For today marks new life
The old life has gone
And with it all the baggage
It is a personal thing
When a person is buried at sea
Does the ship cut its engines?
Not always.
The ship proceeds at full speed,
At full speed!
As the wrapped lifeless body is jettisoned
Life goes on
is what that tells me
Life goes on without baggage
it tells me again.
Today is a good day
A very good day
I have nothing to fear
But fear itself
As Roosevelt[ii] reminded
I have only to worry about the things of today
Have no thought for the morrow
Let tomorrow take care of itself
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof
Again, as it is written[iii]
Today is a good day
A very good day
For I know that everything will work out
We will pull together
just as before.
We will mount as on eagle’s wings.
We will seize the means to deal with evil.
And we will not match evil with evil.
Righteousness is ferocious when challenged.
It becomes gladiatorial
It is Light.
Light cannot be overcome by darkness.
And there is my Hope
Yes!
Today is a good day, A Joyous Day, A Very Good Day
Yes, It is! I say again!
At this stage, I am unaware of the details regarding this superb portrait. It was sent to me by my friend. I confirm that this is not a digital artwork by me. KTW IBM
Part II
Hoist the main sails
full-blown to the wind.
Let the standard fly full mast
from the stern,
The wind behind you
and through your hair.
Keep a firm hand on the tiller,
maintain a steady course,
trust your compass
and navigation.
All will be well
as you arrive in the safety
of the harbour,
as the sun slips beneath the horizon
until the morrow.
Part III
Such beauty to behold
A time to live
A time to love
A time to enjoy
A time to see
the beauty in each other,
regardless of culture,
race,
colour,
gender.
Part IV
Live and Let Live
Life goes on.
Regardless of circumstance,
regardless of time
we each have to make the most
of what we've got!
We are MEANT to do this
We are MEANT to enjoy this
So let's step forward
with faith, vigour, determination
and our unconquerable spirits
knowing that we rest
in The Spirit
Yes
Today is a good day, A Joyous Day, A Very Good Day
Yes, It is! I say again, without apology!
Written July 15, 2014
A remarkable day, A joyous day
21 January 2024
All Rights Reserved
LIVERPOOL
© 2024 Kenneth Thomas Webb
Digital Artwork by KTW unless otherwise stated
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.
