Steve Page

Steve Page Nov 2017

Ed the saint lost his head
and opened his house to the arts
artists and poets
came and amazed us
and touched our heads and our hearts

https://www.instagram.com/world_turned/

#poets #arts #leeds

Steve Page Nov 2017

Conscript

It was a long long way
through dark days
and dank nights
taking dark sides
against the other
against the distant
against the odds.
Trusting the relay of work horses
to drag our destruction
to haul our backsides
to dredge our pain
to our hollow -
to some kind of victory
that I'll never speak of again
outside of my nightmare prayers
for some kind of forgiveness.

-----------------

Blessed are you, who are conscripted , when you are dragged into wars not of your choosing -
For you will be remembered.

For my grandfather Ernest Page. A boy from Brockley in South East London who fought in WW1 in the royal field artillery as a Gunnery Sgt. Picture the movie War Horse and you'll get the idea.

#war #bravery #drafted #horse #ww1 #remembrance

Steve Page Nov 2017

The Last Priest

The Last Priest
smiled his blessings
indiscriminately
bridging
seeding
building
a new priesthood

beyond borders
across tribes
ignoring gender
discounting class
blind to race
snubbing rank
denying privilege

and preferring
a new holy nationality
for refugees
for stateless souls
like mine
- like ours

1 Peter 2:9-10
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Galatians 3:26-29
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,
27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

#priest #nation #race #gender #class #privilege #rank #tribe

Steve Page Nov 2017

Silence

Silence
like morning fog
over a late sunrise.
Like a discarded novel
beside half finished tea
and cold buttered toast.
Like a last breath,
a released hand,
and my unfinished prayer
beside dad's bed.

There's different types of quiet. Some easier to handle than others.

#death #bereaved #loss

Steve Page Nov 2017

My own time

The joy of early,
the smile
of taking the moral high ground,
never giving it up
to the jonny-come-latelys.
Giving me time
to sit,
time to ruthlessly ****
with my own bare hands,
striking each minute
into submission.
Never running.
Never running late,
but standing in stillness,
letting the time on my hands
run through my fingers
and pool at my feet
as I wait here
taking my own time.

Inspired by a radio discussion on what makes some of us late and some habitually early. Adagio: slow and stately.

#early #late #time #wait #waiting

Steve Page Nov 2017

Poetry in Leeds

https://thisfragiletent.com/2017/09/18/world-turned-upside-down-event/

The exhibition runs for a while but us poets will be centre stage in Friday 3rd November. See you there.

#beatitudes #poetry #art #community

Steve Page Oct 2017

Confession. Communion.

The mask of confession
reveals nothing
compared to the truth
within the worth of the wait
in the crack of the joke
on the breath of the embrace
of a friend beneath
a shared blanket
on an autumn morning
seeking a closer communion.

Relationship not Religion.

#confession #communion #truth