Poetry Recital - In the period of our COVID19 Spacial Distancing …… (2021.04.17)
Poem 56 - If it is true by Richard Ntiru. Recital by Michael Palmer.
There is an easy appeal to this poem as it laments the invasiveness and busyness of modern living. Too often incessant talking, myriad images and the giddy speed shrink our capacity to savour and integrate. Overwhelmed by this ferocious assault our discipline falters and we find ourselves swept along towards a land were virtue and friendships are thin.
Ntiru shouts an imperative - Let us pause! Of course, there is a torrent we cannot cease, of images, of words and of demands, but, for meaning and perspective we can, and must, practice some form of momentary disengagement. Let us pause to allow contemplation, to favour critical honesty and to protect our footings of virtue and friendship.
Sometimes this recalibration towards our together lives can be costly and hence the pause may be to summon courage. If this is true, Ntiru is standing in the tradition of the Christ declaring gain though the loss be costly …….
