Over the months we have been writing these pages, we have sought to catch the mood of what we were feeling, how shut-down was affecting us all. Just recently we came across the following poem which encapsulated well what one person found in this time, and which we felt others might find helpful.

UNDER PRESSURE

Lockdown,

Is not so much

Lockdown,

As deep down

Is unlocked.

Things that have been locked

Have become

Unlocked,

By the power of the Living God,

The Father Almighty,

As I am held in His vice-like

Grip,

And I can run no further.

I recall the song,

‘O sinner man, where you go’ in to run to?’

But with the grace of God,

The love of God,

I can run no further.

And I didn’t even know

I was running!

I am cornered

In the shelter of His wings,

In the gentle clasp

Of His tender grasp,

To be healed,

Restored, forgiven,

And made whole

Where there was a

Bunged up hole

Of which I was unaware,

Like the spring of a trap door,

That nestled in so deep a darkness,

Unseen.

It is sprung and released,

And I can see through

The other side

And the first steps

Of the way

Ahead.

© R.E. Duke 2020