Battle-Ready

Hello Fellow Traveller,

I hope this finds you well and at peace.

Last month, one of my poems – ‘Battle-Ready’ – was published in an independent literary journal called Valiant Scribe.

The journal is informed by a Christian ethical and theological perspective, and publishes writing that engages with the realities of the human condition, including themes such as conflict, human rights and climate change.

The editors are guided by the conviction that faith-informed creative expression can contribute meaningfully to public discourse and social understanding.

You can read my poem on Valiant Scribe’s website, and I offer it here too.

Battle-Ready

We could be still
and yet we wade into crisis,
for who can lie by the shore of paradise
more than a day?

We could be at peace
and yet we fashion battles,
for who can gaze in silence at the sun
and be content for long?

We could listen to the ocean
and yet we brandish our swords,
for we must fight,
if only to rekindle the hope
that there is more to the passing of the years
than drops of water evaporating into the sky.

It does not seem
that human beings
are able
just to be.

No, we are more like machines,
and machines are expected
to do something.

***

May you travel safely and be at peace,

Jason