March 20, 2015

Church of England

Talk to me Dad
Tell me of your life, the form
Tell me of the war, that wondrous playtime for young boys
Tell me of the terror, of bombs, direct and stealthy
Tell me of your moving
From the time your brother fetched the midwife
To the Mediterranean
To the Middle East
To England
Tell me till you stop
Your silence a period of sadness and melancholy

Play with me Dad
Show me how to throw a ball
A googily to confuse those opponents
Walk with me up tall mountains
And small villages and orchards and fields
Show me those ghosts
Show me these graveyards
Feed me Nelson Cakes and tea to ground me to the yards
And bring me to the admiral’s resting place
Our heritage of sea

Teach me Dad
Of history, of geography
Show me how to find my way
Points on maps with meaning
That the easy fast way is not the interesting way
Give me features to navigate this life
So I can find my way here
Again to you
Again to my children
Again to my home

We stand at Regent Day Dad
And I always look left
Even when you weren’t there
There you were a beacon, a hope
Just down that road or on those rails
And we believed if we had to
You would take us
Heal us, this was our faith

You’ve a way of speaking
A gentle giant of a man
Humour your shield
English to the core
We’ve adopted this you know
A quiet repose where silence holds definition
I borrow your voice in this head
And I use its familiar comfort
To relax people around proper friendly demeanor
To suppress anger
And to change this world for better

It was only a week Dad
And you had us all
You were so happy with your family
Finding back roads
Showing us Havre hills
Where none should logically be in that wide prairie
And we climbed the mountains and played in the snow
And we built memory

And it was only a week again Dad
A surprise wasn’t it
Your teen boy come to hold eulogy
With his father for a favoured mother
And you gave me connection to family
And our children connect even today
So we cannot be separated
Though separate we would be

Hold me Dad
I am faltered and alone
Disconnected and broken
Can you counsel a boy
Guide with your wisdom
Take away this pitted pain
Give me strength to carry forward
Against those opponents who would hold me committed
You said it was right, this change
I believe it is

Look at us Dad
Look at who we are
Fine men and women who made their way
Look at how we’ve learned
See your children’s children Dad
Wonders and joy, learning from us
And now their great children
Our rewards from God that we be allowed to carry on
It all started in England
This church of your people
And its is all so brilliant, all so unexpected
And all such a miracle

Look at what you’ve started
It is all so very good
We can take it from here