In from their meagre-rationed thin-souped
Sunday,they come and sit with unfulfilled hopes
rumbling involuntarily,as they attend their
dog-collared,dog-eared spiritual supplier;
His burdened ox-cart voice lumbering,slow,
methodically paced,hauling cargoes of words
over a rutted terrain of deep doubt
and shallow expectation;
His resonating syllables heaving the load
of insight and of revelation along straitened furrows,
up to the doors of empty-shelved,
stock-less stores bolted and barred
that forever await long ago ordered,
consignments of fresh answers.
Footnote:
-
this piece was inspired by the character,the Rev.Eli Jenkins in Dylan Thomas’s “Under Milkwood”.The most excellent performance of which was the 1954 radio version starring Richard Burton.I’m still in the process,somewhat delayed of a thematically similar “play”based on the mythical town of “Wakefield”.
Evocative and engaging poem.