Saturday 10 June 2017

THIS IS NOT THE SECOND COMING

I recently was in Lisbon and I visited the statue of Christ on the opposite bank of the river. I have to confess I have no head for heights and I waited at the bottom while my friends went up to take in the views.
While I was waiting I wrote this.

I'm standing at the feet of Christ
who towers a hundred metres above me,
his arms outstretched to love the world,
but this is not the second coming,
this is not even Rio.
This concrete white man
is a celebration of Portugal's
divine neutrality in World War Two,
and I don't want to ride the lift
up to the views and the gift shop at the top.
I'm stood here at the bottom in the scrub land,
thinking about Jesus.
I leave you with a Ryley Walker live. Stunning stuff.