‘This must not happen to you’
So Peter said
Sword at hand he’d be ready for the fray
Cut off a servant’s ear
Fight to save his Lord
In Gethsemane
The night he was betrayed
Chamberlain and Hitler in their day
It could have gone
Another different way
Like Jesus in Gethsemane
Stand your ground and say
Who are you looking for?
Listen to what I say
Let him go and fight his war in Poland
There is nothing we can do to rein that in
Until his wrath consumes him
And Russia becomes his goal
And the snows of Moscow freeze his very soul
Timing is great power in a sport
Wait for your opponent
To advance
A forehand smash and down the line is past him
The point is yours
Now’s the time to dance
In Parliament
It isn’t just ‘yes’ and ‘no’
There’s a measure called ‘abstain’
I’ll let you know
No need to now commit
Let life go on a whit
Things can change quickly
Let the river flow
Doing nothing isn’t doing nothing
It’s patience and delay
And wait and see
Action men don’t like it
They like to be seen to do
Like going to war
And sending me and you
Don’t ever send a friend ‘a final note’
In doing so you tie your hands and feet
You’ve left yourself no exit
No place for common ground
A feeble ultimatum
There’ll be no second round
The Lord he faced his enemies
With calm
There are things beyond control
But no alarm
Be honest brave and true
The Lord will be with you
Your goodness will all evil
Soon disarm
Brian Fahy
12 September 2021
+ September 3rd 1939 and Neville Chamberlain’s ‘final note’ to Hitler has always struck me as the most pathetic way of declaring war. If you are going to fight, you should know you are going to win and win without much trouble. Jesus tells a story of how kings going to war estimate their chances, and if outnumbered, sue for peace. I think we should have kept our powder dry.
In personal life we ought to make peace with one another, not fight or endure ‘cold war’ relations.
My father, a soldier before and during the war, told me a story about his football playing days in 1948. He was playing for Astley and Tyldesley Collieries team. All during a game, every time he cleared the ball – he was a centre half – an opposing player would come in late on him and kick his ankles. Eventually my father had had enough, and the next time it happened, he turned and ‘lamped’ this fellow and knocked him flat.
Then he proceeded to walk off the pitch, knowing he had done wrong, and he said to the referee, ‘It’s all right ref, I am going off, but you did nothing about it, so I thought I would!’
Lessons there. Human beings can be tried beyond their endurance, and people in authority have a duty to use their power to keep order on the field.
Jesus ‘fought’ to save his life by every honest means, by facing his foes and by talking to them. They condemned him to death, a total miscarriage of justice…not a rare occurrence…as ‘A Killing in Tiger Bay’ TV programme shows.
Life is precious but death is not the end.
Brian Fahy
Erris Poetry 