Certainty
Lest We Forget
Disclaimer: this poem is not intended as a swipe at religious faith, which I see as a nuanced and personal set of beliefs, often beset by doubt. No, I wrote this in response to the zealous and unquestioning regurgitation of “expert”-endorsed, “fact-checked”, patently ludicrous nonsense that assaulted us in the height - or should that be depth? - of the officially-generated covid hysteria. “Follow The Science” - I heard it only from those who slavishly followed The Politics; it had all the hallmarks of a cult.
When I first heard the phrase “monstrous certainty” it struck a chord and inspired me, so I have borrowed it. I was surprised to have this poem selected for inclusion in one of the Kent & Sussex Poetry Society’s annual folios. Thank you to them for publishing it.
CERTAINTY
How blessed are those who know they’re right,
untouched by ambiguity
beneath a beam of guiding light.
To see what lies beyond their sight
a gift of great sagacity.
How blessed are those who know they’re right!
The doubts and fears of troubled night
defeated by the clarity
of that bright beam of guiding light
revealing truth in black and white,
erasing all complexity.
How blessed are those who know they’re right,
those fighters of the righteous fight,
protected by their sanctity,
that blinding beam of guiding light.
They need not look to left or right
beyond their monstrous certainty.
How blessed are those who know they’re right
beneath their beam of guiding light.