Here’s another poetic intercession from In a World of Tears and Sorrow, which you can buy this week, until 11 October, at a 10 per cent discount, using the code WORLD10. Simply type the code into the relevant box at the KM checkout between the dates given.
Meanwhile, here’s the sixth of seven poetic reflections from the book that I’ll be posting this week to run alongside this promotion, this one – with allusions to the parable of the Good Samaritan – challenging us concerning our response to human need, on our doorstep and beyond.
Have you seen the vagrant
Have you seen the vagrant
lying in the street,
asking for some coppers,
desperate to eat?
Did you even notice,
stop to wonder why?
Or did you, as so often,
simply pass on by?
Have you seen the children,
hungry, weak, unwell,
ravaged by starvation,
left to live in hell?
Did you even notice,
stop to wonder why?
Or did you, as so often,
simply pass on by?
Have you seen the stranger,
viciously abused;
judged by creed or colour –
so unfairly used?
Did you even notice,
stop to wonder why?
Or did you, as so often,
simply pass on by?
Have you seen the worker,
hopes and dreams destroyed;
just a bleak statistic:
‘long-term unemployed’?
Did you even notice,
stop to wonder why?
Or did you, as so often,
simply pass on by?
Have you seen the nations
left in dire need;
ruthlessly exploited,
victims of our greed?
Did you even notice,
stop to wonder why?
Or did you, as so often,
simply pass on by?
Have you seen the countries,
torn by civil war;
innocents left asking:
‘What’s the bloodshed for?’?
Did you even notice,
stop to wonder why?
Or did you, as so often,
simply pass on by?
Have you seen God hurting
in this world of pain?
Have you heard him calling,
time and time again?
Did you even notice,
stop to wonder why?
Or did you, as so often,
simply pass on by?