Tuesday 9 August 2011

Magpie Memory 77.


Voice of an Angel.

My sin was his sin.
Embarrassment 
drove my father.

While God watched,
he thrashed Satan
from his children.

But God was not appeased.
Like all sadists,
He rarely is.

But it stopped the year
I won the eisteddfod;
1947.

I never sang again.
But looking back,
It was a fair trade.

Look for more cheerful pieces at Magpie Tales.

17 comments:

  1. "Look for more cheerful pieces at Magpie Tales."

    But if we love heartache, doom, gloom, despair, and angst, is is alright if we stay here?

    I love the third stanza. The god I grew up with--the Christian god--was a mean son of a bitch too.

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  2. John said, "He that loveth not knoweth not God. How many have judged God by claims of people who didn't know him themselves

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  3. I never sang again.
    But looking back,
    It was a fair trade.

    - they are probably the most powerful lines I have read in a long time.
    I hope you get to sing now.

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  4. this was so sad
    but I know you do and did sing again
    God is not a sadist
    man is

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  5. The gems you continue to give us now tells me you won the literary part of the competition. Good for you. Not surprised that you did!

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  6. a fair trade? oh i think not...and i agree with suz...

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  7. Touching Stafford.

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  8. I feel your pain ... incredibly revealing. Thank you for that honesty.

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  9. Sounds like a fair trade indeed.

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  10. "But God was not appeased.
    Like all sadists,
    He rarely is."

    Outstanding.

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  11. Very strong piece, hard hitting because it has to be.

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  12. Great poem Stafford and poignant - but at least you played your bass guitar in a band (and I'm sure you sing in the shower).

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  13. No apologies needed here, Ford. I can certainly relate to this post, more than I care to. Powerful write; don't ever hold back.

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  14. Dear Stafford.

    Dear dear Stafford.

    Never stop. Don't stop.

    we'll take the laughter and the tears.

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