Yesterday was the monthly silent walk in solidarity and community with the people of Grenfell. Touching
times, as ever. There is so much to be
found there which is an inspiration for how to live more deeply and
lovingly in the world, how to stand firm in the face of corporate
indifference, how to keep hope alive in a world which so often
suggests that it would be easier to let it die. It is both a
privilege and a blessing to stand beside them in my own small way.
This month's walk was smaller, which had been expected over the summer months, but
it is so often the case that when we break a habit it is hard to go
back to it, even when we want to. I hope that people return after the
summer holidays and, if you have ever thought of joining in the walk,
please do. It takes place every 14th of the month, gathering at 6pm at Notting Hill Methodist Church, and walking from 7pm. You can check the details on the silent walk Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/GrenfellSilentWalk/ I know that it matters so much to those who continue to
fight for justice for their loved ones that as many as possible stand with them. News moves on to the next thing. It is so easy
to forget. It matters that, this time, that doesn't happen.
And
here is a maybe-finished poem which has been going round and round in
my head as I walked over the last few months. With thanks to John
Clare, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Gerrard Winstanley, Gerald Manley
Hopkins, and Terry Pratchett for the borrowed lines. I hope that they
wouldn't mind too much. It was done with much respect for their own journeys with the Land.
When Grenfell
When
Grenfell,
when
green fell,
when
the green heart fell,
they
dropped it and we picked it up.
They
call it protest, we call it love.
And
I am walking hand in hand with John Clare
who
walked the land as prayer
and
saw it lost,
the
fences raised, the green ways dust,
and
we have tied defiance in our hair,
and
ceased to weave with toil and care
the
rich robes that our tyrants wear,
know
this earth was made a common treasury
for
every man to share.
Because
there is no justice, there's just us.
And
we are all peasant poets here
we
will not give way to fear.
Gerald
Manley Hopkins, pray for us;
let
kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame,
reclaim
the blaze that wrote their names
in
ash, turned hope to stone,
took
their homes.
Just
another Enclosure,
another Land Grab,
another Land Grab,
another
Clearance,
another little tyrant with his little sign shows
where man claims earth glows no more divine,
but this glow is not going out.
Our silent footsteps fan the flames,
keep live the spark,
community becomes the still beating heart,
and where the green heart fell we pick it up.
They call it protest, we call it love.
another little tyrant with his little sign shows
where man claims earth glows no more divine,
but this glow is not going out.
Our silent footsteps fan the flames,
keep live the spark,
community becomes the still beating heart,
and where the green heart fell we pick it up.
They call it protest, we call it love.
(Jacqueline Durban, 15th
August, 2018)
References:
'Men of England' by Percy Bysshe Shelley https://threeacresandacow.co.uk/2016/01/men-of-england-by-shelley/
Terry Pratchett, "There's no justice. Just us." https://www.azquotes.com/author/11842-Terry_Pratchett/tag/justice
Gerrard Winstanley https://www.azquotes.com/author/29570-Gerrard_Winstanley
'As Kingfishers Catch Fire' by Gerard Manley Hopkins
