People have long turned to poetry to make sense of the world. Ever since the technology of pen and paper has allowed, people have used poetic verse to capture the experience of life. Today is no different.
As we slowly emerge from lockdown, the Revd Alec Brown has written two sonnets. One, titled "The roadmap unfolding" is in response to the Prime Minister's roadmap for easing lockdown restrictions in England.
Canal and countryside
Across the Trent and Mersey Canal and beyond the farm,
the embattled tower of the Parish Church
rises majestically into the sky,
visible for miles around and a constant presence
as I make my way along the canal to the country park,
where people and dogs are out and about
on this mild and vaguely spring like day;
And roadmaps and back to school are part of
peoples’ conversations as they go their way with children and dogs in tow,
and perhaps tomorrow will set out for all of us
the direction in which we are to go;
and closer now as I get to Church and home
I give thanks to God that in these uncertain times
we can at least through such beautiful countryside roam.
The Revd Alec Brown
The roadmap unfolding
Muckspreading on a sunny Sunday afternoon
and as I turn onto the path from the wood and into the wind
I know that the distinctive and pungent aroma
of the countryside will reach me very soon;
but as it does I give thanks for the familiar smell
telling me so powerfully that my olfactory senses are well;
so on I press towards home and the laptop
and the flurry of e-mails and messages which
from anxious brides and grooms I know awaits me
as the roadmap details begin to sink in;
and it’s dates and postponements and how many
guests can we actually have, and does the photographer really count?
but it’s slowly and surely getting back to something like business as usual
though still definitely not quite as we know it!
The Revd Alec Brown