‘Q’ At Redvers; ‘Q’ At Home

I flew the ‘Q’ flag, I recall
At Redvers – now I see it all –
And here at home – why every day
I fly the ‘Q’ – I’m TCK.

A ‘Q’ has meaning every day
For ships in harbor – at the quay
It’s flown before they customs clear,
So other ships don’t come too near.

The reason? Stops the spread of germs;
Inspector checks and quickly learns
If ship’s a threat to public health;
If so, a danger to their wealth.

So ‘Q’ for “quarantine” flies high,
So all can see against the sky
“This ship’s a danger to the fleet,
Be on your guard, don’t trouble greet.

The part for me I chuckle at
Is “customs”, where they check all that;
For Redvers had their “customs” to,
Their “culture code” – “how life we do”.

They had to – every group has code –
You get some months free of its load,
Then, if you’ve not come into line
Rejection puts you in the line –

Of applicants for jobs again
In other places – oh the pain!
But group-cohesion is the game,
And ‘Q’ you’ll fly – next group’s the same.

The ‘Q’ I’ve flown each day of life;
I had not “got” my cause of strife –
It’s all linguistic – “You can’t say
Our ‘shibboleth’ – be on your way”.

That’s good, not bad, a gift God gave
To humankind, to planet save
By slowing down efficiency –
Allergic each to all we’d be.

Each group defines its way of life
With “gift of preference”; (cuts the strife
Within, for all agree to do
Their life as folks with that gift do).

But as each gift allergic is,
Each group which goes about its biz
With deference to their gift of choice,
Allergic is to other voice.

God gave us all an antidote,
For problem was the way we broke
Relationship of life with Him –
Seven chapters back – the start of sin.

Not “sins” (the plural – stupid acts) –
But “sin” – rebellion, central fact,
“I’d rather live my life my way
Throw weight around and make folks pay –

“Than have You, Lord, directing life”,
We said to Him thus brought on strife –
We trashed the place efficiently –
Rejected God with inner glee.

God shook his head in disbelief,
“You’re going to bring on death and grief
If you keep on that road, that way –
I’ll slow you down – heed what I say –

“ ‘So long as you’re rejecting Me
As center of all life you’ll be
Allergic to the other gifts –
My gift to you – this cause of rifts.

“So maybe, when you’ve slowed so much,
You’ll have the time to smarten up
Before the planet you have trashed
Efficiently – you’re going too fast!'”

And so we all fly flags of ‘Q’
And other folks know what to do –
Stay clear until we’ve customs checked,
So smaller groupings are not wrecked.

But here’s the magic – we do fine
When we to others cross the line,
And enter culture-groups they are in,
If we’ve turned back from central sin.

When God is central to our life,
The allergy dissolves – and strife
That’s caused by others disappears –
We walk with them – quite gone our fears.

But watch – they do not bother us –
We bother them – there’s still a fuss
Within their lives, until they see
God’s place – dissolving allergy.

I am a culture-mix of one
(Or two or three) – still, not much fun
As TCK from Echoland,
Of “Creenglish” type, you understand.

So I fly ‘Q’ throughout each day
With everyone – my words portray
A culture-code which triggers fright
In other folks – they get uptight.

But I just laugh and go my way,
Cross-border-shop and seldom pay
Full price for treasures – furs for beads –
On Him rely to meet my needs.

navigation