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"Exegesis"



At 7 he was 
thrown to the wolves

Bede marked his territory
hidden secrets 
kept in the abbey

he escaped
went to war
where the unwanted trod

First regiment,
Vietnam
he took with him
like a comfort blanket
his Nicene creed and God

and on returning 
from Hell 
which never 
really left him 
any peace, 
the burning extraction came
the loss of the comfort 
long longed for and missed
love and the Golden Fleece 
torn to bits,

a wife 
and what little he knew of love 
stolen too soon, way before time

he turned to poetry and 
the comfort of stories
through fable and Rhyme

he considered
ditching it all
somewhere inside 

there came another call - 
army transitioned
khaki to blue Air 
flight lieutenant
wings and all
another climb
rolling a rock 
like Sisyphus 
up the god-damned stairs

where that thing 
called God 
called from its seat, 

"Have you considered theology
becoming a Jesuit priest?"

He sought it out
commenced it
then followed a retreat...

Another discipline for 
himself and the three

Evensong and Sundays 
without missing a beat, regularly 
like a flagellant 
whipping the loss of life
the lack of sins 
ridiculously repenting for 
nothing he'd ever done wrong
a very good man, 
with a mother who really didn't care
and a father, totally unknown and long gone

He kicked himself as a failure
when in fact he was
courageous and strong

He was just
caught in Life's sticky net

Exegesis
St James
Anglo Catholic
never Anglican 
he would heartily insist
close to the pulpit
Row 6, kneeling in prayer
with his three 
confirmed innocents

He considered the evening menu
store bought from the local
Fish 'n Chips for a treat,
Coleridge, an Ancient Mariner 
stopping one of three 
and an Albatross
will see the little heathens through -
just for good measure, 
he'll teach them 
the Nicene too

Exegesis 
the envelope pushed forward
Eisegesis

grey sky or blue
they will make up their own minds
on which god to hold space for 
he reasons

what is false 
what is true



(Ladylabyrinth / 2020)
for my father
much missed and much loved -
the closest I've ever been to God


llb - klb - mlb




"Miserere mei" / Agnus Dei Volumes 1 & 2 / Edward Higginbottom
https://youtu.be/rs5bc_P1kKo












"At first it seemed a little speck,
And then it seemed a mist;
It moved and moved, and took at last
A certain shape, I wist"














1. Exegesis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exegesis


2. Eisegesis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisegesis


3. The Venerable Bede
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bede


4. Australian Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse within Religion
https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/case-studies/case-study-05-salvation-army-boys-homes-australia-eastern-territory


5. Vietnam War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War


6. First Australian Regiment into Vietnam
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/U53496


7. LUX VITAE/ Latin translation.

7.a. Nicene Creed
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicene_Creed

7.b. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" / Samuel Taylor Coleridge
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43997/the-rime-of-the-ancient-mariner-text-of-1834
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