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Christianity and Tolerance at Llanthony Priory

Stuart Butler

Friday, June 4th, 2004

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 When you climb 2000 feet over Offa’s Dyke,
And the western clouds at last make way for the sun,
And hill after hill opens up with new distances
With each new ridge reached,
And vistas of heather, cotton grass and peat hags,
Stretch out before, while down below
The valleys show meadow and hedgerow,
And church and farm and village,
All of them artlessly secluded,
But all of them clad in their best summer finery,
You cannot help but think of God’s own country.
And when you watch the night come down,
You see the may blossom shining pure virgin white
In the light of a full silver moon climbing high
Over peaceful Llanthony Priory,
Then drawing at home to Japan doesn’t seem to matter.
Then in the morning, you wake at first light,
Baptised by the limpid notes of the full dawn chorus,
And you try to forget the porous nature of England’s defence,
And the dullness of its midfield rough diamond,
(Did your dad honestly think the day would ever come,
When Japan would score a moral victory on English soil?)
So you pick up yesterday’s paper, crumpled in the tent,
And read how the defeat of the Spanish Armada,
Owed much to the Mediterranean maritime Turks,
Harrying and attacking the mutual enemy,
And when out you walk out to the ruined Priory,
And you read how this peaceful innocent valley
Was once visited by Geraldus Cambrensis,
Collecting volunteers for the Crusades,
You remember yesterday’s report,
Labelling England as “Institutionally Islamaphobic”,
And you think that perhaps the England team
Might just need a Moslem or two in its defence.

© Stuart Butler

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/christianity-and-tolerance-at-llanthony-priory/