Slings and arrows and the carrying of books

Brick walls and winding alleyways.
It is a strange country you live in
and every day is an adventure in the unexpected,
the silent chipping away by strangers
and their vague poisoned arrows,
no less deadly for their vagueness.

No matter. Psalm 23 lives in your scarred heart.
Belief. Trust that you will walk in strange lands
and somehow find your way home.

About this poem

We live in a time of vague (and sometimes specific) threats and anger for whatever stance and belief we might hold.

Psalm 23 is the “The Lord is my shepherd” scripture, which speaks to God’s protection. It’s one of the dozen or so verses I cling to in my own life. It is the “book” I refer to in the poem.

The photograph was taken in an alleyway in Rome.

Be well. Travel wisely,

Tom