wordsout by godfrey rust
THE
PLACE WHERE SOCKS GO
Babel
"The
plans are not ambiguous.
It clearly states the measurements
in several elevations, and the facings to be
used.
"I’ve
heard all the complaints about suppliers,
we’ve been through that a dozen times.
It’s your responsibility by contract,
you knew that when you
tendered.
"Fine.
Comply
and make good now or under penalty.
"That’s
up to you. Just get the job in hand.
"What
do you mean, You just don’t understand?"
Babel
was
the first poem I wrote after an interval of about five years,
on a train
journey
between Glasgow
and London
in October
1980. It was on this journey that I made up my mind (or more
accurately, I found that my mind had made itself up) to
re-engage with
the Christian faith. Why this should have found expression in a poem
recording
one side of a mythical telephone conversation between the project
manager for
the Tower
of Babel
and
one of his contractors remains a mystery to me, but
misunderstanding in human communication at all levels is a theme which
has been a constant thread in my professional and creative life ever
since so perhaps it was a suitable prologue for
a period
of creativity which has continued ever since.
©
Godfrey
Rust, godfrey@wordsout.co.uk. See here
for permissions.
.