Never reinforce a negative
Sandra said to me
Adding darkness
To the encircling gloom
What darkness needs is candlelight
A lantern for the way
Or else we’ll never exit from this room
Mediation makes the most
Of positivity
Our language creates the world we see
Our negatives diminish us
They worry and they wound
What we need is newfound energy
At first I thought this dubious
Are you simply being nice?
That won’t cut it
In a world of woe
Pretending all is rosy
With violence at the door
That’s just grand illusion
Nothing more
But Sandra was no pussycat
She didn’t deal in charm
Or trying to pretend or just be nice
She dealt in stern reality
The power that goodness brings
Honest statements confronting every vice
The Lord himself at every turn
Spoke honest words to men
Wickedness did not impress at all
He faced his foes in Galilee
In street and synagogue
Gethsemane the darkest place of all
In Pilate’s court the truth was told
I am a king he said
I came into this world the truth to tell
If you will listen to my voice
Make truth and goodness all your choice
The darkness by your light you will dispel
Brian Fahy
7 May 2021
Erris Poetry 