The Minister
Belief is his, as he walks the streets,
With more than enough dread in his head.
Far away in his mind, a place to go,
Do others see him, can they know?
Like a river this flow in his head,
Eddies, pools and currents run,
His belief no longer gives him bread
While life goes on, not to be outdone.
What is it that troubles him so?
While the world is lying on its side.
And the sun is no longer aglow,
There is no time left and all is denied.
What does he really know?
Can he make a move to show?
Can his life be made to grow?
The change must be made before the spade!
The temperature is rising, the need is now
His belief is before him, and he sees the plough.
Doubt floods in, and he takes to run,
All he can see is the barrel of a gun.
His coat, is his uniform, and declares his word,
Trust they in him to bring no sword.
First time this test, and he has waited long,
And he stalls, where and to whom does he belong?
Discard the cloak, to vanish with a hope,
Apart and away from those who care,
And he steals out in the shadow of towers,
Runs from the sun in his despair.
Gone from this place now only to find,
That every street plays on his mind.
As it was told in that book,
Someone would take, and betray with a look.
He cannot decide if he is ‘on side’,
And which side of a coin is right.
How can he, when ‘belief’ is just a word,
It is just a myth, and for him it’s absurd.
What is he expected now to do?
Relief might come at the setting of the sun.
to hide away in the night dark,
And close his ear to the lark.
Then a sudden thread his mind recalls,
That belief is on his side, and he does not fall,
He now hears the sound of drums,
As forgiveness his way comes.
In this Poem the Minister has doubts about his faith. He wears the cloth and people see him so, but he feels he does not carry the 'faith' in himself. But his life, in pretence, goes on, and he is unable to stop it.. He runs to hide away from truth and discards his badge, only to feel a pressure within, he is confused and alarmed, but then realisation comes to him, and his own 'faith' becomes his rescue, and he is forgiven, as are we all. (perhaps in this verse the "Minister" is actually me struggling with my own conscience after the sudden death of my son in 2005)
