VISITATION ~ The Revised Edition
A Thousand Dimensions
Foreword
Poetry Explains Where Religion Cannot
All of us have much to thank young thinkers, men and women of intelligence and substance in an age that we, today, think it fun to mimic or ridicule.
These were the great thinkers that guided society in ways that we can be truly thankful for, even now. These men and women were those who refused to tailor their writing to religious dogma.
Rather, they interweaved religion into higher realms of thought and inner consciousness. This imagined conversation could be any of the three monotheistic religions. It could be any of the other religions. Jane Austen, Winifred Holtby, Vera Brittain, John Keats, W B Yeats, Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, Wilfred Owen MC ~ and that is the tiniest handful.
When we simply accept as convention the dictates of people who prefer only their own view, we then take the next step and accept their dogma even when it is diatribe.
… and when that happens we teeter on the edge of that Siren in the Wilderness…
“Where they burn books, they will, in the end, burn human beings too.”
© 2024 Kenneth Thomas Webb
VISITATION
Our one wish is to be loved,
cared for,
and free from society's pressure.
How about finding peace,
within this mortal realm?
A place to belong,
whether living or dead.
If only…
Can I help you?
Not really
Who are you anyway?
How did you get in here?
That’s a good jumper, mate
I like it
Oh, that?
Yeah. Full of Holes!
… and sums up how I feel.
Why?
Why what?
I mean I don’t know who you are!
And I don’t suffer fools gladly!!
And I don’t want you preaching!!!
Ha! Preaching?
Me? Preach? Pull the other one!
No. I've just popped in …
Yeah, but who the hell are you?!
It doesn’t matter …
Look!
I think you’d better leave mate, okay?
You’re pissing me off.
You’re pissing me off too.
Got any of that wine?
Oh, this is just bloody stupid!
I’ll go, but I'd like a drink first.
Okay?
Huhhhhhhhh!?!?!
Okay, wait here!
‘wish to be loved…’
What did you say?
‘cared for…’
(non-plussed)
Got that drink?
You’ve got grapes.
I often see it in the images
you send out sometimes as a thank you -
Grapes, glasses and wine.
That’s class, Dragan!
Here. How do you know my name?
I just do.
Are you a stalker mate?
Coz if you are then I can tell you now
You’ll be out that door faster than your bloody
arse came in.
Yep. That’s my Dragi.
Direct, blunt and to the point.
That’s why I like you!
‘Free from society’s pressure…’
Look, I'm sorry if I was rude
and I'm sorry if you overheard me muttering,
I do that sometimes.
I mean we all do don’t we?
Like we talk to ourselves without really realising
we are…
Sure. Except you didn’t.
You wrote it.
Wrote it?
So you HAVE been looking at my stuff.
Now explain yourself, because I'm no mug!
I've seen shit in this life
And it hurts okay?
And I’ll hurt you if I have to…
No, you won’t…
What do you…?
You have a pure heart
Awareness alights Dragi’s face
an awareness that he’s looking at
someone not of this city
this town
this district
this country
oh my g … … … …
this realm…
this other realm
May I sit?
Lost in a sea of thoughts
A lifetime of contradictions
A life of seeing hell on earth,
of death and destruction,
annihilation,
of abandonment,
no home,
families separated by force
even in the so-called
Land-of-the-Free
Just a dirty road to walk
a hasty dash at night
under cover of darkness
with strangers
with soldiers seeking out
his people, even him
for who he is
for who his family is
for what he is
for what his family are
Immigrants
Dragan …
He glances…
Dragan sit down.
Sit on the bed.
I’ll sit here on the desk chair.
I quite like it actually.
My friends often sit here
when you’re working …
I often sit here too.
I love the way you do your studies
The way in which you maintain
Your inventory of everything.
Your ability to catalogue
and of course,
your skill with your pen
and the sheer divine touch
you bring with your lens.
‘A place to belong,
Whether…’
Yes…whether living or dead
Look, I don’t know how you
know all this
but there is something… …
…I feel stupid saying it…
Go on
I can take it
Well, like you’re
not of this realm
I mean, you’re of an immortal realm…
God! What the hell am I saying?
I’ll be asking you if you’ve got
Wings next!
He smiled
Eyes darker than wine,
Teeth whiter than milk (i)
And a radiance glowed from within him
And cast a blueness – a royal blue
Across Dragan’s shadow
That even he could see in the mirror opposite
You’re not actually far from the truth
How many dimensions can you see?
Dimensions?
What sort of question is…
Well…three dimensions and
I guess for people who have faith
Then they’d insist on a fourth dimension
Good. Keep in mind from now on
A minimum of one thousand dimensions
Okay?
A thousand? … …!!!!!!!!
Um sorry. Yes. Right.
Dragan, the questions and statements
you made…
We hear you.
And I’m here to reassure you
that you are greatly loved,
greatly cared for,
and the way your life is unfolding
as you are surrounded by your family and friends,
the family and friends that YOU are creating
in place of your natural loss
is a joy and wonder to behold for Us
and We are here with you all the time
You’ve asked for a place to belong
both in life and death.
Dragan, I'm here to reassure you
That your place, your belonging
IS already part of you
You are spirit
I am spirit.
You are created
I am created.
I'm from that immortal realm you speak of.
But because I'm created
I'm not to be worshipped kiddo!
I’ll say it again lad.
Because I’m created
you are not to worship me or my kind!
Got it?
… a slow, very, very slow silent nod with each syllable …
…yes, got it
Continue along the path you now walk,
And you WILL have all of the petitions
that you desire of Him, of Them
Do you understand?
Verstehen Sie?
wide-eyed wonderment
What do you mean?
You’re not a ghost
I can see you’re flesh and blood!
Yes
Remember that story at school
you liked?
Who rolled the stone?
Yep, that’s the one.
It was quite heavy!
A wink of the eye
that dazzled as a diamond!
A flash so bright as to make the morning sun seem dull
I do like this holey jersey of yours.
HARD TIMES!
but Dragi, you’re not alone.
Are you saying you’re an angel?
What’s more, the one who rolled the stone
In Gethsemane?
I thought…sorry…wings
The Angel of the LORD
Stood with glory all around him
Alighting the study
Now, a crimson glow, a royal blue, a Burgundian hue
I bring you Their blessing
by Their Command
The LORD bless you and keep you Dragan,
The LORD makes His Face to shine upon you Dragan,
And the Countenance of the LORD anoint you.
And They send to you Their Peace.
Ich bringe dir seinen Segen
auf seinen Befehl
Derr Herr segne dich und behalte dich, Dragan.
Derr Herr lässt sein Gesicht auf dich scheinen Dragan,
Und das Antlitz des HERRN, dich zu salben
Und sie senden dir ihren Frieden
A touch, light as a feather, of the hand upon his head
And in that final instant
The royal blue transcended by
The whiteness ~ ‘wing-like’ ` yet definitely no wings
As he departed
Those eyes, that smile
Seared onto Dragan’s mind forever
*
Did he dream?
He awoke with the first rays of the morning sun
The scene, as vivid then as it had been in the night
What an incredible dream!
Have I been reading too much?
He glanced at his jersey on the coat hangar.
The words did not feel so harsh or stark today
He went into the bathroom … paused …
slowly, very slowly, turned …
hesitantly, he walked back out, still with the toothbrush
protruding out of his mouth
The holes have gone
It’s perfect!
(i) Genesis 49: 12
24 December 2023
All Rights Reserved
LIVERPOOL
© 2024 Kenneth Thomas Webb
Digital Artwork by KTW
Composed on the Liverpool to Exeter InterCity ~ 2 January 2014
Last published 20 August 2023
The Visitation ~ Its Foundation
And THERE You Are
Ken Webb is a writer and proofreader. His website, kennwebb.com, showcases his work as a writer, blogger and podcaster, resting on his successive careers as a police officer, progressing to a junior lawyer in succession and trusts as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, a retired officer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and latterly, for three years, the owner and editor of two lifestyle magazines in Liverpool.
He also just handed over a successful two year chairmanship in Gloucestershire with Cheltenham Regency Probus.
Pandemic aside, he spends his time equally between his city, Liverpool, and the county of his birth, Gloucestershire.
In this fast-paced present age, proof-reading is essential. And this skill also occasionally leads to copy-editing writers’ manuscripts for submission to publishers and also student and post graduate dissertations.
